The Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is the second busiest airport in Canada and the Pier D Expansion is part of the airport’s 2037 Strategic Plan. YVR’s intent is to upgrade its international terminal and attract more airlines to add Vancouver to their list of destinations. The expansion also supports the airport’s vision of giving passengers the best flying experience possible. 

PCL has a long history working with the Vancouver Airport Authority and has partnered with YVR to build the majority of the airport buildings over the last 30 years. In the B.C. Region, YVR is one of our most valued and long-term clients, and our values strongly align with theirs. PCL's focus continues to be the provision of superior service by leveraging our experience, people, stakeholder relationships, collaborative solution-provider approach and lessons learned from past YVR projects.

The expansion includes eight additional wide-body gates, four jet bridge gates and four remote stand operation bus gates to increase capacity in the international terminal. The new restaurants and bars, retail areas, digital art and pet relief area improve the passenger experience. An iconic showpiece within the expansion is an island forest, complete with three live hemlock trees and contained within an open-air glass atrium. The open roof allows rain and snow to fall into the atrium in the center of the terminal. 

The expansion and upgrade will improve the travel experience for the nearly 100,000 daily passengers and have a big economic impact, as each new flight through YVR creates hundreds of jobs and contributes millions of dollars to the province. 

If an airport never sleeps, neither should the systems that monitor it. At YVR, Job Site Insights™ (JSI^TM) provided round-the-clock monitoring that reduced manual labor and brought peace of mind to the project team and clients. A flood during construction at YVR was identified as as major risk, with the potential to damage elevator pits and delay the opening of the new terminal.  JSI^TM smart sensors  reported on temperature and moisture levels, ensuring that conditions that might preclude flooding were never present. JSI^TM’s real-time monitoring and alerts meant personnel didn’t have to check the many locations at the site in person. The team and client knew that their project was safe, on schedule, running efficiently—and would stay that way.