Contract Manufacturers in Vancouver

Vancouver’s contract manufacturing base

Greater Vancouver, the City of Vancouver plus Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam, Langley, and the broader Metro region, holds the most technically oriented contract manufacturing base on Canada’s West Coast. The sector is smaller in absolute volume than the GTA or Montreal but concentrated in high-value niches: precision machining for technology hardware, medtech device manufacturing, marine and resource equipment fabrication, and clean-tech production.

This page is the Vancouver view of contract manufacturing in Canada. For the broader evaluation framework, CUSMA rules, and how to assess a shop, start with the contract manufacturing in Canada pillar.

Where Vancouver contract manufacturers are located

Surrey and Langley (Fraser Valley). The industrial backbone of the Greater Vancouver manufacturing sector. Heavy fabrication, structural steel, general machining, and distribution-aligned manufacturing. Lower real-estate costs than Burnaby or North Vancouver drive larger-footprint operations here. The Highway 1 and Highway 10 corridors are the logistics spine.

Burnaby. Precision machining, electronics manufacturing, and technology hardware production. BCIT (BC Institute of Technology) anchors skilled trades education for the region’s manufacturing workforce. Close to SFU and the technology cluster around the Burnaby Mountain area.

Richmond. Food processing, distribution, and manufacturing aligned with YVR (Vancouver International Airport) and the port. Strong in Asian food manufacturing and export-oriented food products.

Coquitlam and Port Moody. Plastics, composites, and specialty manufacturing. Marine hardware production close to the inlet.

North Vancouver and the Squamish Corridor. Marine, clean-tech, and outdoor equipment manufacturing. Several marine equipment and boat-building operations in North Vancouver; Squamish has emerging clean-tech production.

East Vancouver (industrial zones). Small-batch, prototype, and design-adjacent manufacturing. Several CNC shops, metal artists, and specialty fabricators serve the tech startup and media production markets from False Creek, Main Street, and East Hastings industrial districts.

Abbotsford. Agricultural equipment, food processing equipment, and general industrial manufacturing. Growing as land costs push operations further into the Fraser Valley.

What Vancouver contract manufacturers build

Anchor manufacturers and notable companies

• MDA (Space and Intelligence Systems). The storied Canadian satellite and space systems company, with BC roots. MDA’s Brampton, Ontario facility is the primary manufacturing site, but the BC ecosystem is a talent pipeline.
• Ballard Power Systems. Burnaby. Hydrogen fuel cell design and manufacturing for transit, rail, and marine markets. A flagship of BC’s clean-tech manufacturing.
• General Fusion. Burnaby. Fusion energy research and prototype reactor manufacturing.
• Seaspan Shipyards. North Vancouver. Canada’s largest ship repair and marine fabrication operation. National Shipbuilding Strategy work adds significant machining and fabrication demand in the region.
• BC Hydro industrial operations. Substations, dam infrastructure, and turbine maintenance drive precision machining and heavy fabrication demand throughout the province.
• Haivision, D-Wave Quantum, Finger Food Studios. BC-based tech hardware companies that have required local electronics manufacturing partners for their production programs.

The mid-sized tier of 20 to 150 employee shops, precision machining, sheet metal, electronics, and specialty fabrication, is where most production sourcing actually lands.

Logistics: how a Vancouver part reaches customers

• Port of Metro Vancouver. Canada’s largest port, handling over 140 million tonnes annually. Roberts Bank (Deltaport and Westwood Plateau terminals) handles containerized export freight. Burrard Inlet terminals (Centerm, DP World Vanterm) handle imports and project cargo. For manufacturing that imports materials from Asia, the port’s throughput capacity and direct Pacific routing is a significant advantage over eastern Canadian ports.
• Highway 1 (Trans-Canada). The main overland freight corridor east to Calgary (10 hours by truck), Edmonton (12 hours), and the national rail network. CN and CP both have major intermodal terminals in Surrey and the Vancouver area.
• Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Canada’s second-busiest airport by passenger volume; strong cargo handling. Daily transpacific freight and same-day connections to US hub cities (LAX, SEA, SFO, ORD) for air freight.
• US border crossings. Pacific Highway (Highway 15, Blaine, WA) and the Aldergrove crossing connect to I-5 and the US Pacific Northwest. Seattle is 2.5 hours south, Portland 4.5 hours. CUSMA-qualified parts cross duty-free.

BC incentives for manufacturing

• SR&ED (federal). Up to 35% for CCPCs; applies to process development and tooling qualification with BC contract manufacturers.
• BC Employer Training Grant. Subsidizes workforce upskilling for manufacturing SMEs.
• BC Hydro industrial rates. Among the lowest electricity costs in North America. CNC shops running 5-axis cells around the clock benefit meaningfully from BC’s hydro pricing.
• Innovate BC. Province-backed support for technology-hardware and cleantech manufacturing startups and scaleups.
• CleanBC Industrial Program. Incentives for reducing industrial GHG emissions; relevant for manufacturers transitioning to electric process heating, hydrogen, or efficiency improvements.

How to source a contract manufacturer in Vancouver

For precision machining, start with the Burnaby and Surrey industrial zones. For electronics, Burnaby and Richmond. For marine, North Vancouver. For heavy fabrication, Surrey, Langley, and Abbotsford. For food, Richmond.

The Assembly platform routes RFQs to pre-vetted Vancouver-area contract manufacturers based on current certification status and process match, not a cold directory.

Get a quote

Get a quote. Send your drawings, material spec, volume, and certification requirements. The Assembly platform routes the RFQ to matched Vancouver-area contract manufacturers within two business days.

Apply as a Founding Partner. If you run a Greater Vancouver contract manufacturing shop with current ISO 9001 or higher certification, apply through the partner intake.