Federal help with infrastructure, critical to trade, B.C. Premier Eby says

VANCOUVER — British Columbia Premier David Eby says federal government investment in provincial transportation infrastructure is crucial to avoid long-term impacts on cross-Canada trade.

Eby says he met with the federal government’s major projects office and raised work that needs to be done on “trade-enabling infrastructure” such as Highway 1 through the Fraser Valley and the Massey Tunnel, a major route for commuters and truckers going to coastal ports.

The premier says infrastructure problems create “choke points” to ports that can restrict trade growth.

Eby says more flooding like the storms that closed stretches of Highway 1 last week could cause impacts that would last for months, disrupting trade across the country, if a long-term solution is not found.

The premiers are scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney this week, and Eby says he’ll be raising the issue of transportation infrastructure, which should be a huge priority if the government wants to increase transport out of ports.

Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens said on Friday that the federal government needed to prioritize flood-mitigation, saying that without infrastructure spending, the provincial and national economies “remain unprotected and at risk.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2025.

The Canadian Press