5 ms·

I'm surprised there's no shortages yet because trucks can't get to the city. Or does Vancouver import most non-regional goods from the US (and not the rest of C

I'm surprised there's no shortages yet because trucks can't get to the city. Or does Vancouver import most non-regional goods from the US (and not the rest of Canada) anyway?

justsid 5y ago
The shortage is the other way. The rest of BC gets most of its produce from the lower mainland. I live in Kelowna (funny to see a local news site on here), and our stores have basically no produce because we can’t get anything from the lower mainland. Fun times.
- cf100clunk 5y ago
  Conversely, the outward flow of Okanagan wine products will be sharply affected. For example, the market for Okanagan ice wine in Asia is huge. Also, when the Lower Mainland growing season is done, the produce shipped from Chile and Peru comes into Vancouver's ports and goes out across western Canada and the North.
  - CydeWeys 5y ago
    At least ice wine is shelf stable for years, right? It's not like it's gonna go bad; it'll just be a little bit of a delay until it can be sold.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
14 5y ago
Just saw a post from my cousin in Victoria the store shelves are empty it’s crazy.
bobthepanda 5y ago
the Trans Canada Highway in some parts is an undivided 2-lane road, so it wouldn't be surprising for freight to choose to take something like I-90 instead, though you would have to go through border checks.
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  Anything going to southern Ontario or Quebec would already be going through the US if it could because it’s faster, better weather and cheaper gas. The only stuff that wasn’t was stuff that couldn’t (can’t/won’t do the paperwork). Customs bonding and inspections can be a real pain. Canada Post is going to be a real mess though. They either fly or truck overland domestically. I don’t think they do any rail.
- cf100clunk 5y ago
  The Trans Canada Highway from Kamloops to Hope was largely superceded as a trucking route by the more capacious and direct Coquihalla Highway after 1986. Now the Coquihalla is in dire condition.
  - ospzfmbbzr 5y ago
    The Coquihalla is one of the more dangerous highways you will ever drive, particularly in winter, mainly due to altitude and bad weather. Not fun in a white out.
    - swader999 5y ago
      Just imagine this much moisture falling there as snow.
ars 5y ago
It has an airport, a ferry terminal, and a port with a railroad. I suspect trucks are not the main way supplies are delivered.
- cf100clunk 5y ago
  BC Ferries has a multitude of travel advisories in effect due to the high seas and winds, so reliability is a concern. Vancouver has 2 ferry terminals, and both are subject to the conditions.
lhorie 5y ago
Keep in mind that Vancouver is a port city, and the road closures did not affect roads to the US so for the vast majority of the people in the city, the impact is likely minimum. I'd be more worried about disruptions for municipalities like Hope, which are only connected to Vancouver by a handful of roads (the next major hub in the other direction would be Calgary, which is... well, pretty far away).
- fragmede 5y ago
  > road closures did not affect roads to the US The storm that hit which caused the flooding which closed the roads also hit the Vancouver-adjacent parts of the US, so some of those are closed as well.
cf100clunk 5y ago
Vancouver is one of Canada's major seaports and air transport hubs, so there's that. Still, road, rail, and ferry disruption is extremely troublesome.
- soperj 5y ago
  It's the biggest coal port in North America, so that will likely be disrupted for a while here.
Tiktaalik 5y ago
Gas comes through pipeline from refineries in Washington, so that should be largely unaffected. Lots of produce does come from the Fraser Valley which is impacted, but also North/South links to the USA (ie. we get heaps of produce from California). I assume there's a fair amount of food that is delivered from the port, as a lot of food packaging warehouses are near the port. Most trade in Canada is North/South aligned. Tbh the east/west orientation of the country doesn't make a lotta sense lol.
- bialpio 5y ago
  > we get heaps of produce from California Are the prices in line with what those products would cost in the US (e.g. WA state)? I was under the impression that the prices in BC were lower, so now I'm wondering if the price adjustment to account for local markets is significant or not, or if I misremembered completely.
  - vkou 5y ago
    Prices aren't very different than WA state for most goods, but that's because BC, just like WA, grows a fair amount of food in the interior. Much of its out-of-season produce comes from California, but that's the case in WA, as well. Things like cheese are very expensive in BC, but that's due to Canada's dairy tax situation.
  - Tiktaalik 5y ago
    I feel like the in season (from Fraser Valley) vs not in season (california or mexico) produce price is only like maybe a +$1-2 price modifier on things? I don't look too closely at my grocery bill, so I'm probably not the most helpful person to ask. I assume all the food is cheaper in the USA than Canada.
  - frenchyatwork 5y ago
    My impression are the prices are pretty similar with exception to dairy, where Canada has more stringent regulations and therefore prices are slightly higher.
  - willyt 5y ago
cf100clunk 5y ago
The BC Milk Marketing Board has told many of its producers to begin destroying their output until further notice since there is no means of transporting it: https://bcmilk.com/notice-to-producers-flood-conditions-and-impact-to-milk-pickup-november-16-2021/ https://bcmilk.com/notice-to-producers-flood-conditions-and-... Vancouver's surrounding agricultural areas, lush as they are, will now be almost out of commission for an indefinite length of time.
- kazinator 5y ago
  Dump, dump! Just whatever you don't sell 4 l of organic milk to a local for five bucks; they will get used to it.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    The milk board managers must be quaking in their boots realizing that some milk could get sold without them getting their slice of the take.
  - walshemj 5y ago
    You'd presumably need the herd to be certified to sell raw milk like that. The other option is turn it into cheese
wheelinsupial 5y ago
There don’t seem to be shortages in Vancouver or surrounding areas from what I’m hearing. However, I’m in Chilliwack house sitting while my family is away. There absolutely are shortages here. Three gas stations are out of gas (this was before noon) people are driving down with jerry cans to fill up extra fuel, stores are all bare because people ran to the stores to stock up on food, there was a line to get in the grocery stores. While inside some people were pushing two carts full of groceries to the checkout. The roads going West are flooded out and the roads to the East are flooded out. There is definitely shortages here because Vancouver has the regional warehouses. There is no resupplies that can come into Chilliwack, and there hasn’t been an announcement on when the roads will clear. Some areas are told to shelter in place and others are told to evacuate.

I'm surprised there's no shortages yet because trucks can't get to the city. Or does Vancouver import most non-regional goods from the US (and not the rest of Canada) anyway?

justsid 5y ago

The shortage is the other way. The rest of BC gets most of its produce from the lower mainland. I live in Kelowna (funny to see a local news site on here), and our stores have basically no produce because we can’t get anything from the lower mainland. Fun times.

cf100clunk 5y ago
Conversely, the outward flow of Okanagan wine products will be sharply affected. For example, the market for Okanagan ice wine in Asia is huge. Also, when the Lower Mainland growing season is done, the produce shipped from Chile and Peru comes into Vancouver's ports and goes out across western Canada and the North.
- CydeWeys 5y ago
  At least ice wine is shelf stable for years, right? It's not like it's gonna go bad; it'll just be a little bit of a delay until it can be sold.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

14 5y ago

Just saw a post from my cousin in Victoria the store shelves are empty it’s crazy.

bobthepanda 5y ago

the Trans Canada Highway in some parts is an undivided 2-lane road, so it wouldn't be surprising for freight to choose to take something like I-90 instead, though you would have to go through border checks.

Scoundreller 5y ago
Anything going to southern Ontario or Quebec would already be going through the US if it could because it’s faster, better weather and cheaper gas. The only stuff that wasn’t was stuff that couldn’t (can’t/won’t do the paperwork). Customs bonding and inspections can be a real pain. Canada Post is going to be a real mess though. They either fly or truck overland domestically. I don’t think they do any rail.
cf100clunk 5y ago
The Trans Canada Highway from Kamloops to Hope was largely superceded as a trucking route by the more capacious and direct Coquihalla Highway after 1986. Now the Coquihalla is in dire condition.
- ospzfmbbzr 5y ago
  The Coquihalla is one of the more dangerous highways you will ever drive, particularly in winter, mainly due to altitude and bad weather. Not fun in a white out.
  - swader999 5y ago
    Just imagine this much moisture falling there as snow.

ars 5y ago

It has an airport, a ferry terminal, and a port with a railroad. I suspect trucks are not the main way supplies are delivered.

cf100clunk 5y ago
BC Ferries has a multitude of travel advisories in effect due to the high seas and winds, so reliability is a concern. Vancouver has 2 ferry terminals, and both are subject to the conditions.

lhorie 5y ago

Keep in mind that Vancouver is a port city, and the road closures did not affect roads to the US so for the vast majority of the people in the city, the impact is likely minimum. I'd be more worried about disruptions for municipalities like Hope, which are only connected to Vancouver by a handful of roads (the next major hub in the other direction would be Calgary, which is... well, pretty far away).

fragmede 5y ago
> road closures did not affect roads to the US The storm that hit which caused the flooding which closed the roads also hit the Vancouver-adjacent parts of the US, so some of those are closed as well.

cf100clunk 5y ago

Vancouver is one of Canada's major seaports and air transport hubs, so there's that. Still, road, rail, and ferry disruption is extremely troublesome.

soperj 5y ago
It's the biggest coal port in North America, so that will likely be disrupted for a while here.

Tiktaalik 5y ago

Gas comes through pipeline from refineries in Washington, so that should be largely unaffected. Lots of produce does come from the Fraser Valley which is impacted, but also North/South links to the USA (ie. we get heaps of produce from California). I assume there's a fair amount of food that is delivered from the port, as a lot of food packaging warehouses are near the port. Most trade in Canada is North/South aligned. Tbh the east/west orientation of the country doesn't make a lotta sense lol.

bialpio 5y ago
> we get heaps of produce from California Are the prices in line with what those products would cost in the US (e.g. WA state)? I was under the impression that the prices in BC were lower, so now I'm wondering if the price adjustment to account for local markets is significant or not, or if I misremembered completely.
- vkou 5y ago
  Prices aren't very different than WA state for most goods, but that's because BC, just like WA, grows a fair amount of food in the interior. Much of its out-of-season produce comes from California, but that's the case in WA, as well. Things like cheese are very expensive in BC, but that's due to Canada's dairy tax situation.
- Tiktaalik 5y ago
  I feel like the in season (from Fraser Valley) vs not in season (california or mexico) produce price is only like maybe a +$1-2 price modifier on things? I don't look too closely at my grocery bill, so I'm probably not the most helpful person to ask. I assume all the food is cheaper in the USA than Canada.
- frenchyatwork 5y ago
  My impression are the prices are pretty similar with exception to dairy, where Canada has more stringent regulations and therefore prices are slightly higher.
- willyt 5y ago

cf100clunk 5y ago

The BC Milk Marketing Board has told many of its producers to begin destroying their output until further notice since there is no means of transporting it: https://bcmilk.com/notice-to-producers-flood-conditions-and-impact-to-milk-pickup-november-16-2021/ https://bcmilk.com/notice-to-producers-flood-conditions-and-... Vancouver's surrounding agricultural areas, lush as they are, will now be almost out of commission for an indefinite length of time.

kazinator 5y ago
Dump, dump! Just whatever you don't sell 4 l of organic milk to a local for five bucks; they will get used to it.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  The milk board managers must be quaking in their boots realizing that some milk could get sold without them getting their slice of the take.
- walshemj 5y ago
  You'd presumably need the herd to be certified to sell raw milk like that. The other option is turn it into cheese

wheelinsupial 5y ago

There don’t seem to be shortages in Vancouver or surrounding areas from what I’m hearing. However, I’m in Chilliwack house sitting while my family is away. There absolutely are shortages here. Three gas stations are out of gas (this was before noon) people are driving down with jerry cans to fill up extra fuel, stores are all bare because people ran to the stores to stock up on food, there was a line to get in the grocery stores. While inside some people were pushing two carts full of groceries to the checkout. The roads going West are flooded out and the roads to the East are flooded out. There is definitely shortages here because Vancouver has the regional warehouses. There is no resupplies that can come into Chilliwack, and there hasn’t been an announcement on when the roads will clear. Some areas are told to shelter in place and others are told to evacuate.