Canada Post has chosen Bird Design-Build Construction Inc. to design and build a new regional processing facility at the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond.
Canada Post will invest $200 million in the new multi-purpose processing facility and related equipment. Construction on the 700,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to begin by the end of 2011 and be fully operational in 2014.
In a release, Canada Post said a processing facility at the airport will improve the Crown corporation’s access to vital transportation links, allow it to expand its e-commerce business, process mail faster, improve its delivery logistics and provide better customer service.
A long-term land lease has been secured with the Vancouver Airport Authority. The new postal facility will be on 42 acres of land at the city’s international airport. The new operations centre will also house a Canada Border Services Agency office.
Vancouver is the hub for postal delivery in B.C. and the Yukon and accounts for 10% of national mail volumes. Beause the city is a gateway to Asia-Pacific and a critical component of the company’s western operations, Vancouver is particularly important to Canada Post’s operations,.
Vancouver is one of three international access points for Canada Post and plays an increasingly important role in facilitating trade with Asian countries.
Jennifer Harrison
@JHarrisonBIV