Squamish Terminals is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Although initially incorporated on Nov. 5, 1971, the port began its operation in October 1972, with the first vessel arriving on Nov. 19, 1972.
The first ship brought about 3,500 metric tonnes of wood pulp — its primary commodity back in 1972 — approximately 3.5 million kilograms. That’s nearly the same weight as 127 average-sized humpback whales.
And that’s just on one ship.
Fast forward to 50 years later, and the terminals has become a stalwart at the end of Third Avenue in Squamish, often boasting enormous vessels carrying massive amounts of cargo.
Squamish Terminals saw about 800,000 metric tonnes worth of cargo in 2022.
All in all, 800,000 metric tonnes is equivalent to 800 million kilograms. That’s over 29,000 average-sized humpback whales.
But even with all that added cargo over the years, Squamish Terminals has maintained a strong sense of community among its employees.
A family-oriented workplace
Ron Brown currently works for the terminals as a foreman, but his journey at the port began long ago.
He started at the terminals as a casual worker in 1990, when he was still in high school.
“I basically started because my dad was a longshoreman already,” Brown said, adding that his father was also a foreman.
Brown's grandfather was a longshoreman who worked in Vancouver.
“I was third generation and lucky enough to start up here," he said.
Brown said he spent years working as a foreman alongside his father, up until his father’s retirement just about 1.5 years ago.
“It had its moments, but mostly good,” Brown said with a chuckle.
And though his father retired not too long ago, the job keeps bringing in family.
“It’s a generational thing, and now my son has started,” Brown said.
His son is just starting out, so he doesn’t get a lot of work. But Brown said they’ve worked side-by-side just like he and his own father did.
The port didn’t run in Sarah Tichauer’s family like Brown’s, but she’s still been very appreciative of the community she’s gained throughout her 18-year tenure in accounting administration.
“I’ve carried some of those friendships that I’ve made in the office here over the last 18 years,” she said. “I’m still maintaining those relationships, so it just comments on how supportive and great this workplace is.”
“It’s very much a team mentality, and everybody fully supports one another,” she said. “We try and do things in the community and in the office that maintains that team mentality as one big group working together.”
While records aren’t available for how many employees worked in 1972, nowadays, the terminals boasts 240 employees. According to the manager of customer service and community relations, Greer Richardson, most employees are Squamish residents.
“I run into my coworkers and some of the foreman, longshoremen in the community,” Tichauer said. “I also love going into a bakery or a local restaurant and everyone you talk to either knows someone who has worked at the terminals, had a family member and just has nothing but really great things to say about what we do for the community.”
Biggest changes since its inception
One of the most significant changes that has occurred over the terminals’ 50 years is the type of cargo it is bringing in.
“When I started, it was pretty much 99% wood pulp,” said Tichauer.
And now?
“You name it, and we’ve brought it in,” she said with a laugh. “So, it’s been really interesting watching that.”
“We’ve changed drastically,” said Brown. “When I started, we had some paper here which we don’t have anymore and a lot of wood pulp, mostly forest products.”
“It’s changed to a big shift in import of steel.”
In 2022, some of the cargo is forest products, just like 50 years ago, but the terminals also receives a lot of steel products. Of the 800,000 metric tonnes that came in 2022, about 410,000 is forest products which equates to about 51%, and 390,000 is steel products which equates to 49%.
“This year will be a record year for Squamish in terms of the volume of import steel handled,” said Dave Lucas, the president of Western Stevedoring, the parent company of the terminals.
“It’s shifting more towards a multi-purpose terminal for both import and export,” said Paul Morris, the manager at the terminals.
Another recent change is the acquisition of the terminals by Western Stevedoring in 2018.
Prior to the acquisition, Lucas called the terminals a friendly competitor but said the combining of the companies worked rather seamlessly.
“It was a great cultural fit with the team at Squamish with our team at Western,” he said. “Very similar values and just a real good cultural fit.”
“We’re one team now and a very well-functioning team.”
Since the acquisition, Lucas has retained oversight over the terminals and acknowledged that the record-breaking steel import for this year took a lot of effort from everyone involved.
“From my perspective, [I’m] extremely proud of our team and what they’ve been able to accomplish with handling record volumes of import steel, which is an extremely tough commodity to manage for our operating people, our staff in our office and in the workforce,” he said.
“Extremely proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish and they’ve exceeded our expectations.”
Overcoming the dock fire in 2015
Though the terminals has operated swimmingly for a few years, a huge fire broke out at the site in 2015, which wound up clouding Squamish in dark, thick smoke.
“The town’s core became quiet as the heavy smoke caused people to close windows and stay inside,” wrote staff members at The Squamish Chief in April 2015. “Some people seen outside were wearing masks as they rode bicycles or walked downtown under the huge black plume, which reversed toward Howe Sound when winds shifted direction at about 10 p.m. that night.”
A shelter-in-place alert was issued the Thursday night of the blaze by the District of Squamish, and by Sunday the fire was 100% contained. Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire though one person did seek treatment at the hospital due to the smoke.
For some time afterward, the terminals operated with just one berth. From what Morris has heard about the incident, it showed the crew had to be innovative.
“It really made them think outside the box to make sure that they provided a good service to the customers that come through the facility,” he said.
Both Tichauer and Brown were employed with the terminals at the time of the incident, but neither were scheduled to work the day the fire broke out. But both acknowledged that the team and community had to pull together after the incident.
“I do know there was an incredible amount of community members and people that banded together and worked extraordinarily hard to make sure that we came through this,” said Tichauer.
“I do remember the challenges afterward,” said Brown. “Working with one berth with the amount of ships that were trying to come in and out, that was really challenging for us.”
“It was difficult when they were building the berth, just moving cargo around,” said Brown.
Despite the challenge, they pulled through.
“But we managed,” he said. “We worked pretty hard at it, and the shipping lines really liked what we did at that time and supported us.”
The future of the terminals
Celebrating 50 years is an important milestone for any organization. But when it comes to the future of Squamish Terminals, what are they looking toward and planning for?
It’s hard to plan for the next 50 years, but in terms of the next five years, Lucas said they will need to watch for continued changes in the industry.
“We always obviously have our eyes on the forestry industry and what comes in the next five years because there’s likely some structural changes coming,” he said.
Lucas also noted that there is a shortage of port lands provincially, so the terminals may have opportunities that arise from that.
Morris first reflected on the incidents that took place due to global issues and how the terminals responded.
“Over the last couple of years,” he said. “What’s taken place from COVID and atmospheric rivers and what happened to our transportation systems, I think that Squamish Terminals just really stepped up to the occasion and helped the global market.”
As such, Morris thought the future for the terminals would be bright, with the port able to “contribute to the bigger picture of moving goods globally.”
When it comes down to it, Lucas said they will strive for quality and hope to continue to contribute to Squamish as much as they can.
“We’re looking to continue to provide excellent service to the industry to ensure that we keep the level of business that we have today,” he said. “We’re proud of our place in the Squamish community and contributions we make there.”
For Brown, he just hopes the community recognizes the positive impacts from the terminals.
“I just hope that the community sees the value of Squamish [Terminals] and how much cargo we actually move.”
