Tamara Vrooman: With B.C. as the Pacific gateway, we can pivot away from the challenging financial picture tabled in Victoria last week. We have the products the world wants but if we can’t deliver promptly, other countries will. With shifting trade and travel patterns amidst geopolitical rupture, we have already seen a significant increase in demand for new air
As Canada’s Pacific gateway to Asia and beyond, further expanding trade and air connectivity is a key imperative for Vancouver International Airport. This is even more important as we digest B.C.’s challenging provincial budget picture released last week.
As the finance minister herself stated, we cannot cut our way out of a deficit. Nor can a jurisdiction tax its way to financial prosperity. Instead, B.C. needs a renewed effort to stimulate economic growth, a big part of which includes finding new markets for our products abroad and new routes to get them there.
With shifting trade and travel patterns amidst geopolitical rupture, we have already seen a significant increase in demand for new air routes and increased service from YVR, with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific, India, and the Gulf Region. Amidst a record 2025 for both cargo volumes and passengers, YVR saw more than a 15 per cent increase in traffic between Vancouver and Asia. Air cargo and the movement of high-value exports to the region are also increasing, with further demand forecast for 2026. This complements a similar situation for marine cargo out of the Port of Vancouver.
This month, I travelled to Hong Kong and Singapore as part of an Asia Pacific Foundation conference focused on further growing Canada’s trade and connectivity with the region. I met with dozens of business leaders, investors, cargo operators, and airport representatives, as well as connecting with Canadian diplomats and trade representatives on the ground.
The takeaway from these meetings was unequivocal: Canada has a generational opportunity to further our connectivity and trade with markets across the Pacific. As Prime Minister Mark Carney has said, and as outlined in the province’s Look West Strategy, Canada has what the world wants — particularly here in B.C. — from critical minerals to lumber, fresh seafood and agri-foods, high-value manufactured products, and more.
But equally clear was that a window of opportunity is just that. Although these markets recognize what Canada has to offer, we are not their only option. If we cannot deliver promptly, other countries will, and our window will close.
YVR is ready to leverage this opportunity. Thanks to investments made in airport infrastructure as well as in advancing our innovation and technology programs since the pandemic, we already have the capacity to handle more international flights and cargo. We also have the solid financial footing to make additional investments where and when needed, particularly around cargo facilities and innovative projects to further support getting more of B.C. and Canada to the world.
We are working closely with governments to ensure bilateral agreements are in place to allow for those additional air connections, something that I spoke about directly with the prime minister when he was at YVR in January. As just one example, there is currently no government-to-government agreement to allow direct air access between Canada and Vietnam, which is our largest unserved market in the region. Adding just a single direct daily flight between Vancouver and Ho Chi Minh City would generate over $54 million in economic output and more than 300 jobs for B.C., not to mention creating more air cargo space for B.C. exports.
Multiply that over more routes and destinations, and the benefits for B.C. add up quickly. That is why we are also engaged with B.C.’s business community and other stakeholders to ensure we are focused on the right destinations to support their trade and economic ambitions now and into the future.
But this is just a start. Success will require a tangible, collective effort, and an unprecedented sense of urgency from across our economy. Government, First Nations, and business leaders all have a role to play, as do our airports, ports, rail, and other transportation infrastructure.
Canada, with B.C. as the Pacific gateway, truly has a generational opportunity in front of us. By taking prompt, decisive steps to leverage the market potential from these emerging regions, we can pivot away from the challenging financial picture tabled in Victoria last week toward a new era of economic prosperity. But only if we act to seize it.
Tamara Vrooman is president and CEO of Vancouver International Airport.
