Transportation & Warehousing

 

BC is separated from the rest of Canada by mountain ranges that have made travel and transportation particularly challenging throughout its history. Aboriginals and the explorers who first came to the province traveled by foot, packhorse or canoe, following waterways and other paths through the province's many mountains, valleys and canyons. The fjords and islands of the coast were explored and charted by mariners such as George Vancouver and James Cook, but the Interior was not easily accessible to the settlers who came to the province in the early 1800s.

Ships…

Most of the early settlers arrived in British Columbia by sea. Victoria, which had a sheltered, deep harbour, was a common stopping point for travellers during the gold rush and in later years, sealing ships headed north from the US also visited the port. The naval base in Esquimalt, with its drydocking facilities, was first used by the British, and later by the Canadian navy.

On the mainland, the Fraser River and lakes in the Interior provided waterways that could be navigated, and paddle wheel boats were used to transport people and goods before the road system was put into place. However, most river boats on the Fraser did not travel beyond Yale.

The Hudson's Bay Company began regular passenger and freight service between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland in the mid-1800s. Ferry service was taken over by the CPR in 1901, with a trip from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria taking five hours. BC Ferries, created in the 1960s, is now one of the largest ferry transportation systems in the world, with a fleet of 34 vessels and up to 48 different points of call. Residents of some remote coastal communities still rely on ferries as their main link with the rest of the province.

Roads…

The Cariboo road, which linked Yale, Lytton, Soda Creek, Quesnel and Barkerville, was laid down by royal engineers during the gold rush of the 1860s. It provided an overland route that could be used to bring supplies, equipment, miners and other travellers to Barkerville, which at that time was a booming community. After the railroad was built, people and freight traveled by train to Ashcroft, and continued north along the Cariboo road.

The extensive network of roads that connect BC communities today wasn't built until much later. During the depression of the 1930s, the government sponsored road construction projects as a means of providing jobs to the unemployed, but the modern highway system that's used today wasn't built until after the Second World War. More recently, the completion of the Coquihalla highway and connector system in the late 1980s has significantly reduced the amount of time required by freight trucks and passenger vehicles traveling between Vancouver and the Interior of the province.

Trains…

Canada's history, and BC's place in it, is closely linked to the development of the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR). The Canadian government's promise to build a transcontinental railroad was one of the main reasons why the province joined Confederation in 1871. Building the CPR was the biggest project the fledgling nation had yet undertaken, and laying track through the mountains of BC was an enormous challenge.

Construction of the railroad began in 1880, and was completed in 1885, with the help of more than 15,000 workers who were brought over from China to lay the rails. Chinese railroad workers played a pivotal role in the nation-building effort, since there was not nearly enough labour available locally to complete the task. Many of them stayed on to work in BC, and helped establish the province's rich multicultural heritage.

The completion of the transcontinental railroad provided the province with access to markets in the east. It also opened up the Interior of the province, and led to the development of Vancouver, the western terminus of the railroad, as an important commercial centre. Vancouver became the main point of exit for goods exported from Canada to Asia and the only port of entry for tea and silks imported from Asia. It was soon the province's largest city. Its fortunes were further boosted when the Panama Canal, which provided a shorter, less risky route for marine traffic between the Pacific and the Atlantic, was opened in 1914, making European markets more accessible to exporters on the west coast.

Planes…

BC's air transportation industry had its beginnings in the early 1900s. The first flight from Vancouver to Victoria was in 1919, and a little later, the first plane flew over the Rockies and airmail service between Seattle and Vancouver began. Vancouver International Airport is now a major point of entry for flights from the Pacific Rim and the second-busiest airport in the country.

…and Ports

With its naturally deep harbour, year-round ice-free access and links to rail, road and other transportation systems, the Port of Vancouver handles more foreign exports than any other port in Canada, and has the highest cargo volume on the west coast of North America. A total of 76.5 million tonnes of cargo was handled in 2005. China, Japan and South Korea are the main destinations for cargo loaded for export in Vancouver. Prince Rupert, another naturally deep harbour, is handling a growing amount of freight headed for Asia.

Vancouver is also a common stop for cruise ship traffic headed to or from Alaska, with 910,172 cruise ship passengers embarking or disembarking in the city in 2005. Victoria and Prince Rupert, together with other coastal communities, also welcome cruise ships that travel between Alaska and the rest of the US.

Transportation services have been pivotal to the province's economic development over the years. The fact that most large cities are located near a major port or on an important trade route is no accident. Airports, port facilities, rail lines and highways have all contributed to the growth of cities. They have also led to the development of related industries that provide goods and services used by these facilities, or which depend on good access to shipping routes.

What's included in transportation & warehousing?

This industry includes air, rail, water and truck transportation services, as well as public passenger transit, other types of transportation such as taxicabs and limousines, and related services such as maintenance, cargo handling, pipeline transport, storage and warehousing.

What's happened since 1990?

GDP and employment in transportation & warehousing hasn't grown as fast as in the rest of the economy

Transportation and warehousing accounted for a little less than 6% of total employment in 2005, a share that was slightly lower than in 1990. Although the industry has shown some variability, the share has remained in the six percent range throughout this period. Its contribution to GDP was just over 6% in 2005, about the same level as in 1990, but the overall performance of the industry has been quite volatile.

Between 1990 and 2005, the number of people working in transportation and warehousing expanded 29%. However, job growth has been concentrated in just a few areas. It was strongest in warehousing, trucking, ground passenger and transit, scenic and sightseeing transportation and the courier and messenger service industries.

On the other hand, there are significantly fewer people employed in air, rail and water transportation than there were in 1990. The postal service industry has also cut back, partly due to competition from couriers and from alternative forms of communication such as the Internet, which has allowed some organizations to cut down on their use of mail services.

Passenger transportation has seen a bit of a bumpy ride since the turn of the century. The events of 9/11 effectively stopped air traffic throughout North America for more than a week, and since then, enhanced security measures, concerns about safety and the SARS scare in 2003 have had a negative effect on the demand for some types of transportation services. The airline industry has been particularly hard hit, especially since some companies were already experiencing financial difficulties before the terrorist attacks.

Trucking and shipping have been affected as well, since stricter security requirements have made crossing the border with the US less convenient and more time consuming than it used to be. It's likely that there will be further restrictions on the free flow of goods across the border in the future, as governments continue to work on reducing potential vulnerabilities.

What are the most common occupations?

Not surprisingly, trades and transportation equipment operators account for the lion's share of the workforce in this industry, with 58% of the workers employed in this occupational group. Half of them are truck drivers, but other common occupations include bus, delivery and taxi drivers, material handlers, longshore workers, aircraft ramp attendants and aircraft and vehicle mechanics.

More than half of the people working in this industry are trades, transportation & equipment operators

One in four people working in this industry are in business, financial and administrative occupations. These are mainly clerical workers such as letter carriers, postal clerks, dispatchers, accounting clerks, couriers, shippers and receivers.

Sales and service occupations, including flight attendants, pursers, and airline sales and service agents make up 7% of the workforce.

Natural and applied science occupations, which include air pilots, deck officers on vessels and air traffic controllers, as well as information systems workers, account for 5% of the jobs, with the remaining 6% being mainly people in managerial (5%) occupations.

How many people work in transportation & warehousing, and how much do they earn?

In 2005, there were 118,700 people working in this industry. Most were involved in transporting either freight or passengers.

Trucking is the biggest employer, with 30% of the industry's workers. Scenic and sightseeing transportation, including support activities (e.g., operating airports, harbours and so on) employs 16% of the workers, while 14% of the jobs are in transit and ground passenger transportation (buses, taxis and so on). Eleven percent of the people working in this industry are employed in air transportation (both passenger and freight).

Three out of ten workers in the industry are employed in trucking

Couriers and messengers (8%), postal services (7%), rail (5%) and water (5%) transportation are smaller employers, as is warehousing and storage (4%) and pipeline transportation, which accounts for less than half a percent of the jobs in this industry.

The average hourly wage rate was $21.16 in 2005, about 9% higher than the average for all industries in BC. Within the industry, wages are highest in rail ($25), air ($24) and water ($24) transportation. Workers in the couriers and messengers industry ($17) have the lowest hourly wage rate.

A typical work week was over 41 hours long, five hours more than the average for all industries.

What are the characteristics of the workforce?

Nine out of ten workers in the transportation and warehousing industry are employed full-time. In the economy as a whole, eight out of ten people work full-time (at least 30 hours a week).

The industry is highly unionized. Fifty-three percent of workers have union coverage, well above the 33% average for all industries in the province. Among other industries, only public administration, education, utilities and health care and social assistance have higher rates of union coverage.

Most (79%) of the people who work in this industry are men. Transportation and warehousing is the only industry in the service sector with such a high percentage of male workers. Some of the jobs in this industry can be physically demanding, or require workers to spend long stretches of time on the road, and this might make them less appealing to some women.

The unemployment rate averaged 5.1% during the period from 1990 to 2005, the same rate as for the service sector as a whole, but significantly lower than the provincial average of 8.4% during this period.

Self-employment has become more common in this industry. Nineteen percent of the workers in this industry were self-employed in 2005, up from 13% in 1990. The increase in the incidence of self-employment is partly related to the growth in the couriers and messengers industry, where one in three workers is self-employed. Self-employment is even more common (37%) in the trucking industry, and about 19% of the workers in transit and ground passenger transportation (which includes taxi drivers) are their own bosses. It's a less common arrangement in other types of transportation and warehousing services.

Many of the establishments in this industry group are large. That's because a lot of money has to be invested in the infrastructure and equipment used by air, rail, water and public passenger transportation systems. Once those are put in place, it takes a lot of workers (and customers) to operate a viable service.

Thirteen percent of the people in transportation and warehousing work in establishments where there are at least 500 employees, nearly twice the average for all industries in BC. Another 23% are employed at locations where there are from 100-500 workers and 37% work in establishments with 20-99 employees. Only 27% work in establishments with fewer than 20 employees, well below the average for all industries in the province (38%).

Establishments in this industry tend to be bigger than average. This reflects the huge capital investment that's required to provide some types of transportation services

Where are the jobs located?

Vancouver is the hub of the province's transportation infrastructure system. It's also the location of Canada's busiest port, the western terminus for shipments of resource and other commodities produced in BC and the rest of Canada, and the first available stopping point for flights to Canada from the Pacific Rim. All of these reasons, plus the fact that the population of the Lower Mainland exceeds two million people, help explain why two-thirds of the jobs in transportation and warehousing are located in the Vancouver area.

Seven out of ten jobs in BC's transportation, storage and communications industry are in the Lower Mainland

North Coast and Nechako, where the Port of Prince Rupert is located, also has a higher share of employment in this industry than in the total workforce. Prince Rupert is emerging as an important deep sea port where commodities shipped via the northern rail line are loaded for transport to Asia and other destinations.

What's the outlook to 2014?

Overall, GDP and employment in this industry are expected to grow at the same rate as the rest of the economy. Its share of GDP is forecast to remain at just over 6%, while just under 6% of the people with jobs in BC are expected to be working in this industry in 2014.

GDP and employment in the industry are forecast to keep pace with the rest of the economy during the next few years