First Nation files court challenge against Burrard Inlet dredging project for oil tankers | Daily Hive

Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and the Second Narrows Rail Bridge at the Second Narrows of Burrard Inlet in Metro Vancouver. (Jeff Hung/Shutterstock)

A legal challenge has emerged against the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s recently approved plan to perform some dredging in the Second Narrows shipping channel of Burrard Inlet, with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation seeking to overturn key federal and port approvals through the courts.

The court action comes about two weeks after the port authority announced it had secured the federal government’s green light to proceed with the project, which is intended to increase shipping capacity and allow oil tankers serving the Trans Mountain pipeline’s Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby to leave more fully loaded.

But on Wednesday, the First Nation filed a judicial review application in Federal Court challenging both the port authority’s permit for the project and the federal Fisheries Act authorization issued by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Moreover, the First Nation is not only challenging the dredging work, but also the end result of enabling more oil to be shipped out in tankers. The First Nation argues that federal authorities and the port authority did not address their concerns about the project’s broader effects on marine shipping, Indigenous rights, and the cumulative impacts of industrial activity in Burrard Inlet.

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The legal challenge adds a new layer of uncertainty to the project, which the port authority has indicated could begin construction work as early as September 2026. The port authority has previously stated that the dredging project is crucial to increase export capacity to overseas markets while supporting jobs and economic growth, and that federal approvals include extensive conditions intended to protect fish habitat and the environment.

It remains unclear whether these judicial review proceedings triggered by the First Nation could affect the project’s timeline.

“While Tsleil-Waututh understands the proposed dredge is an important step for Canada’s international trade objectives, including increasing the amount of oil moving through the Inlet from Westridge Marine Terminal, the approval process has been rushed and has not addressed any of Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s concerns about marine shipping impacts,” said Tsleil-Waututh Chief Justin George in a statement this week.

“Tsleil-Waututh has a sacred stewardship obligation, a responsibility to care for our lands, air and waters. While we attempted to resolve these outstanding issues in good faith, our concerns were ignored, leaving us no choice but to go to court to protect our territory and interests. A well-planned economic initiative needs to include addressing and accommodating impacts to Tsleil-Waututh’s inherent and constitutionally-protected rights. That did not happen here.”

second narrows rail bridge burrard inlet

The Second Narrows Rail Bridge just beyond the north entrance into the Thornton Tunnel. (sophiecat/Shutterstock)

The challenge centres on two main arguments. The first is that the federal government did not fulfill its duty to consult the First Nation before the permit was issued. The second is that the port authority’s determination that the project would not likely cause significant adverse environmental effects was unreasonable.

The dredging plan focuses on deepening portions of the existing shipping channel just east of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and Second Narrows Rail Bridge.

The work is expected to extract a mixture of sand, gravel, cobble, boulder, and sandstone materials from the seafloor of Burrard Inlet. Most of the dredging will occur to a depth of about 1.3 metres below the seafloor, and a few sections will reach a maximum depth of about six metres below the seafloor. Approximately 25,000 cubic metres of material will be removed by the dredging project — equivalent to about 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools or under one per cent of the material removed annually by the port authority’s regular maintenance dredging work for the Fraser River.

The key outcome of the project will be allowing Aframax-class tankers loading at the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby to depart at or near 100 per cent capacity. Currently, navigation depth restrictions in the Second Narrows area limit those vessels to roughly 80 per cent of their carrying capacity.

burrard inlet second narrows dredging plan port of vancouver

Dredging plan for the Second Narrows of Burrard Inlet. (Vancouver Fraser Port Authority)

The Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project reached completion in 2024. The pipeline is intended to enable up to 34 oil tanker loadings per month at the expanded Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby — an average of one or two tankers per day in Burrard Inlet. Last month, Trans Mountain Corporation reported that its pipelines reached 83 per cent of capacity in the first quarter of 2026 and is expected to further increase to 90 per cent in the second quarter.

The First Nation argues that this operational change was not adequately studied during the review process. They argue that the environmental assessments largely focused on the direct physical impacts of dredging itself and did not fully examine the implications of enabling larger loaded tankers to travel through Burrard Inlet.

The First Nation also contends that regulators did not assess cumulative impacts from increased marine shipping activity and industrial development in the inlet, including potential effects on Indigenous rights, cultural practices, and ecological restoration efforts.

As of 2024, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation has roughly 700 members, with about 300 living on a nearby reserve near the water on the North Vancouver side of Burrard Inlet.

Among the concerns raised are increased oil spill risks, shoreline erosion near reserve lands, and impacts on marine ecosystems. The First Nation asserts that existing industrial activity and vessel traffic have already placed significant pressure on its ability to exercise traditional practices and maintain its relationship with the inlet.

The court filing further argues that risk assessments associated with the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project were based on tankers operating under the current loading restrictions. The First Nation maintains that allowing ships to carry larger loads changes the risk profile and warrants additional review.

The First Nation’s position also appears to conflict with the direction of the newly established by the federal and provincial governments through the Canada-British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement. In addition to supporting the construction of a new oil export pipeline from Alberta to Metro Vancouver, the agreement contemplates increasing the existing Trans Mountain Pipeline’s capacity from 890,000 barrels per day to about 1.19 million barrels per day through operational optimizations.

Ironworkers Memorial Bridge (foreground) and Second Narrows Rail Bridge (background). (Paul Yates/Shutterstock)

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