Future of partially built parkade at Vancouver airport still up in the air | Daily Hive

Future of partially built parkade at Vancouver International Airport still up in the air

The partially built new parkade at Vancouver International Airport. (Google Maps)

There is a real possibility that Vancouver International Airport (YVR) might never complete its partially built additional parkade for its intended purpose because current demand trends and long-term forecasts show that vehicle parking demand does not warrant it and that significant additional capital investment would still be required to finish it.

Construction on the new five-storey parkade — situated just east of the existing parkade and SkyTrain’s YVR Airport Station — came to a sudden halt in March 2020, when the Vancouver Airport Authority paused further construction due to the sudden onset of the pandemic.

This new parkade was one of the initial projects under YVR’s previous $9.1-billion, 20-year airport expansion and improvement strategy launched in 2017. Other early projects that entered construction under this broader strategy included a new central utilities building, a geoexchange facility to support the terminal building’s energy-efficient heating and cooling needs, and the Pier D international terminal expansion.

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In September 2020, the airport authority decided to suspend indefinitely several partially built projects, including the new parkade, the central utilities building, and the geoexchange facility, with the in-stream construction contracts terminated. At the time, it was shared that a combined total of $525 million had already been spent on these various early projects.

Only the Pier D terminal wing resumed construction in Summer 2020, as it was just months away from completion and deemed to be useful. Construction of the terminal expansion finished in January 2021, with some areas opening in November 2021 and full use beginning in June 2022.

The original design of the second parkade would offer an additional 2,170 public parking stalls, plus 665 car rental stalls within a new and improved ground transportation facility. It would also be directly connected to the existing parkade.

The footprint of the second parkade was built on the former Value Long-Term parking lot, which was relocated in 2018 to a brand new surface vehicle parking lot with over 2,000 stalls next to SkyTrain’s Templeton Station. Passengers who park in this satellite long-term lot can take the train to and from the terminal building for free.

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Uber pick-up area sign at the international arrivals area of Vancouver International Airport. (Kenneth Chan)

Upon inquiry, the airport authority told Daily Hive Urbanized today that the second parkade for the terminal building was approved in 2017 — well before the pandemic and “ahead of major changes in how people travel to and from YVR.”

“In the nine years since, travel behaviour has shifted significantly, and the original business case no longer supports proceeding with the project as planned.”

Currently, 65 per cent of passengers arrive or depart using shared transportation or other modes rather than private vehicles, such as ride-hailing and public transit — especially SkyTrain. Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, which first launched in Metro Vancouver in early 2020, now account for 24 per cent of all passenger trips to and from the airport.

“As a result, demand assumptions for additional long‑term private vehicle parking needs have materially changed,” reads the statement from the airport authority.

“YVR has a responsibility to carefully steward capital investments and to make decisions based on current data and long‑term needs.”

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The partially built new parkade at Vancouver International Airport. (Google Maps)

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The partially built new parkade at Vancouver International Airport. (Google Maps)

According to the airport authority, about $200 million was spent building this second parkade, and a significant additional investment would be required to turn the concrete structural skeleton — which has been sitting unfinished for six years — into a functional piece of airport infrastructure.

The airport authority asserts additional vehicle parking capacity is not warranted — even though YVR is experiencing record passenger volumes. In 2025, it saw an all-time high of 26.9 million passengers — beating its previous record of 26.4 million in 2019.

In 2017, when the previous expansion and improvement strategy was established, YVR saw 24.2 million passengers and was forecasting the possibility of staggering growth, potentially reaching 31 million passengers by 2022 — a significant figure similar to what Toronto Pearson International Airport handled in 2010. However, these projections were interrupted by the pandemic, and the airport authority now appears to expect that private vehicle use will see only limited increases even with sustained passenger volume growth, leading it to conclude that a second parkade is not needed.

YVR is still determining the path it will take for the second parkade’s future — something airport authority president and CEO Tamara Vrooman last publicly indicated in November 2024 that the organization was still evaluating and would need time to decide.

“Continuing construction of a standalone parking structure would require a significant additional investment, which is no longer justified,” continues the statement to Daily Hive Urbanized today.

“Based on those realities, we are undertaking a thorough review of how to best utilize the location and the structure as currently built for other purposes to best serve passengers and airport operations over the long term.”

In 2022, there was also an attempt to find a tenant that would complete the partially built central utilities building — situated east of the partially built second parkade — and convert it into 300,000 sq. ft. of industrial and office space.

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Partially built skeleton structure of Vancouver International Airport’s previously planned Central Utilities Building. (Vancouver Airport Authority)

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Partially built skeleton structure of Vancouver International Airport’s previously planned Central Utilities Building. (Google Maps)

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