• British Columbia, Canada’s third largest province, comprises 9.5 percent of the country’s total land area and was home to over 4.2 million people in 2004 – over 13 percent of Canada’s total population. In 25 years, B.C.’s population is expected to jump to 5.5 million, a 23 percent increase.
• The value of BC goods shipped to international destinations climbed 10 percent from 2003 to 2004, halting a three-year slide that saw BC exports drop $5.5 billion from their peak in 2000.
• In 2004, B.C.'s international exports totaled $32.3 billion. The U.S. ranked first, receiving 65 percent of B.C.'s exports, and Japan came in second, with 12 percent.
• Total international overnight visitors to B.C in 2004 increased 4.4 percent, according to Customs Entries compiled by Stats Canada. Numbers were down 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2005.
• British Columbia’s transportation industry employed nearly 113,000 people in 2004. BC Stats figures indicate that is 28 percent more than the people who are employed in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, oil and gas, mining, and utilities sectors combined but still is 20 percent fewer than the number employed in B.C.’s construction industry.
• According to BC Stats, over 35 percent of people employed in the transportation industry are employed in the truck and rail sectors.

Marine

• The Port of Vancouver handled 73.6 million tonnes of cargo in 2004, a ten percent increase from the 66.7 million tonnes of cargo handled in 2003. China surpassed Japan this year at the Port of Vancouver for total import and export tonnage.
• Vancouver is Canada’s busiest port and ranks sixth in North America for cargo volume. In 2004, container volumes hit 1.66 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units), an increase of eight percent according to the Port.
• The Vancouver-Alaska cruise sector further declined in the 2004 season. Revenue passengers hosted by the Port of Vancouver declined three percent this year, from 953,376 passengers in 2003 to just under 930,000 in 2004. Total sailings declined 6.8 percent, from 307 to 286.
• Total tonnage shipped through the Port of Prince Rupert increased nearly three percent in 2004 to 4.4 million tonnes of product. Now in its second year, the expanded cruise program will see 64 visits, an increase of 83 per cent of total cruise vessel visits. That translates into 90,000 passengers forecast for the Port of Prince Rupert, an increase of 38 percent.
• Fraser River Port marked another year of growth; cargo throughput reached a record 5,586,361 tonnes in 2004, up five percent from the previous year. Container traffic led the way once again with dramatic growth, up 25 percent this year. Container volume has tripled in just two years.
• In 2004/2005, BC Ferries served 47 ports of call on 25 routes along British Columbia Coast. Over that period, BC Ferries carried over 22 million passengers and 8.6 million vehicles, an increase of three percent…

Air

• According to the latest statistics, there are 88 certified aerodromes and 203 registered aerodromes in B.C.
• In June 2005, there were 5,274 registered aircraft in B.C., compared with 29,898 for all of Canada. That is almost 18 percent of the Canadian total.
• Of the 5,274 total aircraft registered in B.C., 702 are helicopters, over 35 percent of the nation’s total number of registered helicopters.
• There are 213 licensed scheduled and charter commercial operators in B.C. Of that total, 79 are commercial helicopter operators and operate over 250 commercial helicopters.
• B.C.’s busiest airport, in terms of passenger traffic, is Vancouver, followed by Victoria, Kelowna, Abbotsford and Prince George…
• In 2004, Vancouver International Airport handled 15.7 million passengers, that’s nearly a ten percent increase over 2003. The facility handled 230,000 tonnes of cargo 2004, almost seven percent more than in the previous year.
• Passenger traffic at Victoria International Airport was up six percent in 2004, with over 1.2 million passengers handled, a record for the airport.
• A record 894,561 passengers passed through Kelowna Airport in 2004 – an increase of over three percent from 2003. Kelowna is currently ranked as Canada’s 10 th busiest airport.
• Abbotsford Airport in 2004 saw 372,060 passengers go through the airport, an 11 percent decrease from 2003.
• Prince George Airport handled 340,397 passengers in 2004, a slight increase over passenger totals of 339,817 in 2003.

Rail

• B.C.’s rail system includes roughly 7,700 kilometres of mainline railroad track…
• Rail services in B.C. are provided by CN Rail, CP Rail, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the Southern Railway of B.C., Amtrak, Rocky Mountain Railtours, VIA Rail, West Coast Express, Okanagan Valley Railway, Omnitrax, White Pass and Yukon Route, RailAmerica/E&N Railway, Kelowna Pacific Railway, Grand Forks Railway, Kootenay Valley Railway, B.C. Forest Products Railway and International Rail Road Systems…
• West Coast Express carried over two million passengers in 2004. That’s an i ncrease in boarded passengers of 5.6 percent. The commuter line carries on average 8,100 riders a day.
• Rocky Mountaineer Railtours carried 78,000 passengers in 2004, an increase of over 18 percent over the previous year. Another banner year is expected for the company in 2005. Since 1990, over 800,000 guests have traveled onboard the Rocky Mountaineer…

Roads

• In B.C., there are roughly 65,000 kilometres of roads - 2,000 kilometres of the roads are federally-owned, 42,000 kilometres are provincially-owned and 21,000 kilometres are municipally-owned. The Canadian road system consists of 902,000 kilometres; seven percent is in British Columbia…
• According to ICBC, in 2004 there were 1,907,000 licensed passenger vehicles in B.C., an increase of over four percent from 2003.
• Almost all goods moved within B.C. rely on trucks. More than 35,000 trucking companies are registered in B.C…