After the mid-Cretaceous (100 million years ago) the plate boundary was west of Vancouver and the Queen Charlotte Islands, and close to its present position. The entire Cordillera, with the exception of places near the present continental margin, was uplifted above sea level. In the eastern Cordillera, the rocks of the Foreland Belt continued to be thrust eastward over the old continental margin. About 55 million years ago they came to rest, more-or-less where they are today, about 150 km east of the old continental edge.

About 85 million years ago, the Pacific Ocean floor started to move strongly northwards across the advancing edge of the North American Plate. In so doing, parts of the upper plate temporarily became coupled to the oceanic plate and started to move northwards with it, much as southwesternmost California west of the San Andreas Fault is moving northwards today with the Pacific Plate. This movement caused widespread faulting in the Cordillera. In southwestern British Columbia, the Fraser Canyon is eroded along the trace of a north-south oriented strike-slip fault whose west side moved north 130 km relative to the east side between 47 and 35 million years ago. This fault offsets slightly older north northwest-trending strike-slip faults, on which rocks to the west may have moved an additional one or two hundred kilometres.

About 55 million years ago, as thrust-faulting ceased in the Foreland Belt, the crust of central southern British Columbia was pulled apart. Formerly deep rocks were exposed near the surface, and at the surface, small basins bounded by faults were filled by sedimentary and volcanic rocks.