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Ministry of Technology, Trade and Economic Development

“We’re a quick flight away for L.A. studio execs, who also appreciate operating in the same time zone throughout their projects.”

- Barry Chambers, President, Rainmaker Entertainment Group

“British Columbia is an ideal location for a highly knowledge-intensive manufacturer such as Avcorp. Our location provides us with great access to all major North American aerospace clusters.”

– Paul Kalil, President, Avcorp Industries Inc.

Whether you need to ship products, move information, or travel to leading global markets, British Columbia has the transportation and communications systems to ensure cost-effective connections. And the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provides duty-free access to one of the world’s largest single markets.

AIR CONNECTIONS
Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is the second largest international passenger gateway on North America’s west coast, and a growing freight distribution hub.

YVR offers:
>  620 direct flights weekly to U.S. destinations, 110 to Asia, and 50 to Europe
   
>  Frequent flights to regional centres throughout British Columbia
   
>  Excellent freight service - the world’s top 10 freight forwarders, nine of the world’s top 10 air cargo carriers, plus regional hubs for Fedex and UPS, are located at YVR
   
>  A Free Trade Zone, allowing duty and tax-free storage of imported goods prior to export from Canada
   
     
  Hours Air Travel Time from  

Hours Air Travel Time from Vancouver

  
  Vancouver to Selected U.S. Cities*  

to Selected International Cities*

  
  Atlanta 5:00   Amsterdam 9:45  
  Boston 5:15   Beijing 11:00  
  Dallas 4:15   Frankfurt 9:30  
  Los Angeles 3:00   Hong Kong 13:00  
  New York 5:30   London 9:00  
  San Francisco 2:15   Seoul 11:15  
  Seattle 0:45   Tokyo 9:45  
   
* Hours : Minutes
Source: YVR


ROAD AND RAIL CONNECTIONS
Integrated surface transportation systems provide cost-effective service to U.S. and Canadian markets via truck and rail. For example:
>  Truck delivery is 24 hours from Vancouver to Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay area
   
>  Rail delivery from Vancouver to Chicago is 93 hours
   

PORT CONNECTIONS
Vancouver is the third largest port for foreign container traffic on the west coast with 2 million TEUs (twenty foot container units)capacity, and the closest major port to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. Vancouver is also homeport for the world-renowned Alaska cruises.

Visit the Vancouver Port Authority website: www.portvancouver.com.

British Columbia’s northern gateway port of Prince Rupert (ice-free year round) is the closest bulk commodity facility serving Asia – sailing times are 30 hours less than from any west coast port in North America. Rail delivery to Chicago is 117 hours.

The port is the proposed site for a new high-throughput container terminal with
a potential annual capacity of 1.2 million TEUs.

Visit the Prince Rupert Port Authority website: www.rupertport.com.

More than 20 subsidiary deep-water ports have facilities for bulk commodity shipments.
 
           
  Days sailing time to selected Asian ports from Vancouver and Los Angeles  
    Japan
Yokohama		 China
Hong Kong		 China
Qingdao		 Taiwan
Kaoshiugn		    
  Vancouver 8 days 21 hrs 12 days 10 days 16 hrs 11 days    
  Los Angeles 10 days 2 hrs 13 days 6 hrs 11 days 21 hrs 12 days 18 hrs    
         
Source: Vancouver Port Authority

DUTY-FREE NORTH AMERICAN MARKET ACCESS
Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, firms located in British Columbia have access to United States and Mexican markets duty-free, regardless of corporate nationality. Materials and equipment can be sourced duty-free from the U.S. and Mexico.

DIGITAL CONNECTIONS – TELECOMMUNICATIONS
British Columbia’s advanced telecommunications infrastructure meets the demands of the information economy and e-business:
>  100 per cent digital switching
   
>  An extensive high-speed optical network employing SONET and ATM technologies,
with general access to ISDN, ADSL, frame relay, DS3, T1/3, and E10/100 services
   
>  A full range of network services – security, network management, web-hosting,
and e-business
   
>  Direct connections from Vancouver to Canada’s intercity IP backbone with extensions into the U.S. via several major points of presence