With war in Iran spiking fertilizer and oil prices, focus has turned to the Strait of Hormuz as a choke point for global fertilizer and petroleum trade.
That context made me think about our own choke point: the Second Narrows rail bridge in Vancouver, broken for several days in late February and locked in its down position.
The CN-owned lift bridge is the only rail access to North Shore grain, potash and coal terminals. Its centre span rises several times daily to allow ships through, including tankers serving the Westridge Marine Terminal that loads oil from the Trans Mountain Pipeline.
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Locked in the down position, the disruption had little impact on rail traffic but prevented about 13 ships from transiting the narrows.
Critical infrastructure carries one-third of port cargo
I’ve written about this bridge before. Canadian grain farmers and shippers have identified it as a major economic risk, as this breakdown highlighted.
Built in 1968, the bridge now carries almost one-third of all cargo moving through the port — 43.7 million tonnes in 2024. That includes the G3, Richardson and Cargill grain terminals and the Canpotex potash facility.
Recent efficiency improvements
The port and CN have taken steps to improve efficiency in recent years. A real-time vessel management system and central scheduling now co-ordinate movement and reduce delays.
CN improved the Thornton Tunnel access and added large rail sidings, allowing quick train movement across the bridge when available. Another project under construction — a vehicle overpass over a busy road — will allow even more fluid movement when completed next year.
These improvements let CN boost train movement to the North Shore by 10 per cent, even as the bridge raises more often to accommodate Trans Mountain Pipeline tankers.
The port posted record handlings in 2025 — 170.4 million tonnes, up eight per cent over the previous record.
Concerns about aging infrastructure
However, I remain concerned. So many investments squeeze more capacity from a 58-year-old bridge that’s behind the times in earthquake survival engineering.
It’s like widening the top of a funnel while leaving the spout unchanged.
Will these improvements accommodate potential capacity gains when grain terminals finally solve the “loading in rain” problem?
Loading in rain could boost capacity seven per cent
Port spokespeople say grain companies and the federal government have worked on engineering controls and operational procedures to make it safe for workers to load in rain. Pilot projects are complete, but no announcements about rollout. We haven’t heard what port unions think.
If available, rain loading would increase capacity by an estimated seven per cent — equivalent to adding another grain terminal.
These advances will be needed to maintain Canada’s market share in global grain trade with rising crop production at home.
Record wheat exports drive port volumes
Vancouver’s 2025 record included 30.3 million tonnes of bulk grain, with a 20 per cent increase in wheat exports contributing mightily.
Wheat exports from all ports and Prairie elevators total 13.03 million tonnes as of week 30 in the crop year (to March 1), according to the Canadian Grain Commission. That’s up about a million tonnes, or eight per cent, over last year.
Of that total, Vancouver handled 7.4 million tonnes, up from 6.04 million last year. The one million tonne increase is entirely due to higher Vancouver throughput.
Surprisingly, Vancouver’s total grain handlings are ahead of last year despite canola export problems with China. Increases in wheat, barley, soybeans, peas and lentils more than offset smaller canola volumes.
Vancouver has handled 18.34 million tonnes total, up from 17.21 million last year. Prince Rupert is also slightly ahead at 2.92 million tonnes, compared to 2.83 million.
Now that China is again accepting Canadian canola, exports are making up lost ground. In the last five weeks, 1.02 million tonnes of canola shipped from all ports, up from 785,000 in the same period last year.
