Vancouver’s record cruise season makes its shore-power upgrade look overdue

Canada Place can supply shore power to only two cruise ships at once, even though three or four vessels often berth at the terminal, according to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. That is the detail I’d put ahead of Vancouver’s latest passenger record. A growing cruise business needs enough capacity to let equipped ships switch off their diesel auxiliary engines alongside.

The port has an expansion planned. After a season this busy, it looks overdue.

Vancouver closed its 2026 cruise season with about 1.4 million passenger visits and 358 ship calls between February and October at the three-berth Canada Place terminal. The port authority estimates that the season generated more than $1 billion in local economic activity.

Passenger visits rose 18 per cent and calls increased 19 per cent from 2025, when the terminal handled about 1.2 million visits and 300 calls. Both totals also surpassed the previous records set in 2024, with roughly 1.32 million passenger visits and 327 calls.

Gains that size make the terminal’s practical limits harder to ignore.

Equipped ships need somewhere to plug in

About 80 per cent of Vancouver’s annual cruise calls involve shore-power-equipped vessels, according to Chance McKee, the port authority’s senior trade development representative. Not every eligible ship connects on every visit.

Not every missed connection is a capacity problem. But the two-ship limit can bite when more than two equipped vessels seek to connect at once.

Construction on the Canada Place Shore Power Expansion Project is scheduled to begin in the coming months, with completion expected by 2027. It will add two connection stations, bringing the total from three to five, and increase shore-power capacity by 35 per cent.

Five connection stations should not be read as a promise to power five ships at once. The stated benefit is about 90 additional ship connections annually, with an estimated reduction of 3,300 tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions each cruise season.

Compatible vessels can connect to British Columbia’s electrical grid and shut down their diesel auxiliary engines while berthed. Shore power has been available at Canada Place since 2009. Across its cruise and container operations, the port authority estimates that shore-power use has prevented more than 50,000 tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions.

I’d judge this upgrade by those additional connections. They are a more useful measure of progress than the number of equipped ships arriving with the ability to plug in.

The spending case for Vancouver’s growth

The case for welcoming more cruise passengers goes beyond moving them between the airport and the ship.

The Pacific Rim Cruise Association’s latest passenger survey found that 76 per cent spent time in Vancouver before or after their sailing, up from 70 per cent in 2023. Average local spending reached $1,144 per passenger across accommodation, dining, shopping, tours, attractions and other purchases.

Passengers stayed an average of 1.4 nights around their cruise. Among visitors from outside North America, that rose to 2.6 nights. Those stays give substance to the port authority and Destination Vancouver’s efforts to promote the city as a destination in its own right.

Most ships visiting Vancouver use Canada Place as their homeport for Alaska voyages. Those turnarounds also bring business to suppliers providing food, fuel, repairs and other vessel services. The port authority estimates an average of $3 million in economic activity per cruise call.

At Snowggle Gifts, near the terminal, staffing depends on the ships. “Every time, I check how many cruises are coming and how many passengers are expected,” said manager Akari Minamihama.

That is the everyday business behind the billion-dollar estimate. Jarrett Vaughan, an adjunct professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, has called for support for hotel and convention-centre development to accommodate tourism growth, alongside restaurant and bar openings. The terminal is only one part of the capacity question.

More ships are already on the schedule

The 2026 season brought several additions. Virgin Voyages and The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection made their Vancouver debuts with Brilliant Lady and Luminara, respectively. Disney Magic also visited for the first time and homeported throughout the season, joining Disney Wonder and doubling Disney Cruise Line’s seasonal ship presence.

On September 27, the 177,882-gross-ton Star Princess became the largest vessel by gross tonnage to visit Canada Place. July set a monthly passenger record, with more than 290,000 passengers passing through the terminal.

The final departure came early on October 13, when Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore sailed with about 4,000 passengers on a voyage with several stops before Los Angeles.

Both Disney ships are scheduled to return for a two-ship season in 2027. Brilliant Lady and Luminara are also due back, with 10 Luminara visits already on the preliminary schedule. McKee projects another seven per cent increase in both passenger visits and ship calls.

The preliminary season opens with Europa on March 24, followed by near-daily calls from late April through early October. Ovation of the Seas is scheduled to make the final call on October 8.

Other terminal work includes new elevators at key passenger arrival points. The port authority says average boarding times have fallen below 30 minutes since facial biometric scanning was introduced in the terminal’s U.S. customs hall in 2024.

Moving passengers through efficiently matters. So does giving more equipped ships access to electricity once they arrive. Vancouver has shown that it can attract the calls. Its next investment needs to make switching off engines at the dock a more routine part of handling them.

See cruises departing Vancouver on Cruise Lookup.