Last year, the port dealt with more than 122 million metric tonnes of cargo, 300,000 autos and 660,000 cruise passengers. But, in the next 15 years, it expects to grow by a phenomenal 50 per cent to handling 185 million tonnes of cargo and nearly a million passengers.
However, with municipalities facing their own growth pressures or political challenges, friction will continue.
In recent years Metro Vancouver reacted to the tension over port-city issues by creating a special committee. Chairwoman Dianne Watts, the mayor of Surrey, says that has helped improve relations but land-use planning and taxation remain points of contention.