July 9, 2026 – səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) territory, North Vancouver, British Columbia.
On July 8, 2026, Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) filed a judicial review to overturn the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s (VFPA) permit allowing the VFPA to dredge tsa-ah-nah (Second Narrows area) of səlilwət (Burrard Inlet).
“While Tsleil-Waututh understands the proposed dredge is an important step for Canada’s international trade objectives, including increasing the amount of oil moving through the Inlet from Westridge Marine Terminal, the approval process has been rushed and has not addressed any of Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s concerns about marine shipping impacts,” said Chief Justin George. “Tsleil-Waututh has a sacred stewardship obligation, a responsibility to care for our lands, air and waters. While we attempted to resolve these outstanding issues in good faith, our concerns were ignored, leaving us no choice but to go to court to protect our territory and interests. A well-planned economic initiative needs to include addressing and accommodating impacts to Tsleil-Waututh’s inherent and constitutionally-protected rights. That did not happen here.”
This proposed dredge represents a major undertaking with far-reaching implications for Canada, for our Tsleil-Waututh people, and for the territory we are obliged to protect. Tsleil-Waututh Nation will continue to uphold our sacred duty to protect the Inlet and ensure that current and future generations will thrive.
On June 23, 2026, the VFPA issued its Project and Environmental Review Permit for the Second Narrows Dredging Works. On the same day, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) issued its Fisheries Act Authorization (FAA) for the Second Narrows Dredging Works, permitting the VFPA to destroy fish and fish habitat while dredging. TWN will be challenging both authorizations.
In the judicial review filed today, TWN argues that:
- Canada failed to discharge the duty to consult TWN before the VFPA issued the Permit, thereby breaching the honour of the Crown; and
- The VFPA’s decision to issue the permit was based on an unreasonable determination that the Second Narrows Dredging Works are not likely to result in significant adverse environmental effects under the Impact Assessment Act.
TWN Engagement in the Second Narrows Dredging Works Consultation Processes:
Legal materials filed in Federal Court today argue that the VFPA issued the permit for the Second Narrows Dredging Works without addressing significant gaps in its review process that TWN identified early on in our review:
- Despite TWN raising the issue repeatedly, the VFPA did not assess the impacts to TWN’s rights, culture, and way of life that will occur due to the changes to marine shipping enabled by the dredge—including the risks of more fully laden oil tankers traversing the inlet. The VFPA only assessed a limited set of physical impacts that will result from the dredging.
- The VFPA also did not reasonably assess how the Second Narrows Dredging Works and related marine shipping will contribute to the already critical cumulative impacts of industrial development on TWN’s title, rights, culture, and way of life.
Background – Second Narrows Dredging Works:
Currently, due to navigation restrictions near the Second Narrows bridge related to the depth of the Inlet, Aframax-class oil tankers can only fill up to 80% capacity. The 2019 approval of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project took that navigation restriction into account, and risk assessments were based on tankers at 80% capacity. The dredging will allow tankers to fill to 100% of their capacity at Trans Mountain’s Westridge Marine Terminal, yet no regulatory authority has considered how this changes risks and impacts to the Inlet and TWN rights. The dredge will also facilitate further expansion of the Trans Mountain Project and other industrial activities in Eastern Burrard Inlet.
- Our review found the proposed dredge project threatens our inherent and constitutionally protected Indigenous rights, title, and interests: The project will change marine shipping patterns and worsen cumulative effects in the Inlet.
- This includes oil spill risk and shoreline erosion right out front of our reserve.
- Neither was included in the VFPA or DFO environmental reviews.
- Existing cumulative impacts, including from marine shipping, already unjustifiably infringe our rights to the point of preventing members from practicing our way of life.
- The dredge threatens to undo progress we’ve made to restore the health of our territory. We see whales returning thanks to the hard work we’ve done to restore the health of the Inlet. The dredge and related impacts threatens to undo all of that progress.
- Though we did request the VFPA and Canada extend the review process so that we could ensure TWN’s concerns are addressed, the approvals were issued without addressing these concerns.
- TWN has engaged to protect TWN’s rights, title and interests. We have consistently informed the VFPA and the federal government that Second Narrows is an important site for TWN culturally, spiritually, historically, economically, and ecologically, as is all of Burrard Inlet. A proposal to dredge the seabed, which is culturally a part of us, is a very serious concern.
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About səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation):
səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation), as People of the Inlet, have a sacred, legal obligation to protect and steward our territory. Any project with the potential to further impact our constitutionally protected rights, title, and interests must involve meaningful and robust engagement.
Since time out of mind, Tsleil-Waututh Nation has maintained our reciprocal obligation to care for and to steward Burrard Inlet. We know we depend on a healthy Inlet and the Inlet depends on us. We actively work to restore the health of our lands and waters and create the necessary conditions so our Nation can thrive. Tsleil-Waututh is an economic leader – our work remains centered on building a sustainable and inclusive economy that reflects our values and vision.
Media Contact:
TWN Communications, səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation)
Phone: 604-404-9070
Email: communications@twnation.ca
