For almost a century, British Columbia has exhibited a marked dependence on overseas markets to absorb a large proportion of the provincial, primary and secondary natural-resource production. The geographical location of the province, on Canada's western seaboard, and the bulky nature of many of the export commodities, makes the ocean highway a logical transportation link in the distribution of this commerce to foreign markets. The objective of this study is to trace and quantify, as precisely as possible, the development of this international, seaborne trade. It is impossible to present a complete and comprehensive account of all the items of commerce entering into British Columbia's maritime, foreign trade. However, a detailed analysis of international shipping activity on the Canadian Pacific Coast shows that, throughout the period under review, the export movement has been far more significant than the corresponding import movement. Moreover, a few staple commodities, grain, lumber, pulp and paper, coal, mineral concentrates and refined metals, have formed the mainstay of this outward traffic flow. Consequently, the scope of the study is restricted to a consideration of the distributional patterns of maritime foreign trade associated with export shipments of these commodities. The preponderance of the export movement is also reflected in the traffic balance of the individual ports on the Canadian Pacific Coast. All these ports exhibit a common characteristic in their function to serve the province's basic, export industries, and, to a lesser extent, to tranship bulk commodities from Alberta and Saskatchewan. This common bond constitutes the basis for a collective study of all these shipping points under a single term - The Port of British Columbia. A map showing the distribution of these shipping points, further demonstrates that most of them are located at points in and around the Strait of Georgia which, in effect, constitutes one large, natural harbour and is the core region of the Pacific Coast port. In addition to this central core, the remaining shipping points may be grouped into two export-oriented outports centred on the Alberni Canal area and northern coast respectively. The procedure adopted in this thesis thus attempts to answer the following questions arising out of a study of the maritime foreign trade of the Port of British Columbia. What were the chief commodities exported, and in what quantity? What effect did this trade have with regard to the number, distribution, and relative importance of shipping points within the Port of British Columbia? What were the dominant directional patterns of flow, and which were the most important forelands for these export shipments? The answers to these questions, with respect to the trade in specific commodities, are given in chapters three, four and five. The maritime foreign trade of the Port of British Columbia can be subdivided into four relatively distinct phases. Beginning in the middle of the eighteenth century, trade increased steadily until 1900, and, following a period of stagnation in the first decade of this century, continued to increase slowly until the end of the First World War. Throughout this Phase of Early Development, the principal exports were coal from Vancouver Island, and lumber from the Lower Mainland, and the number of shipping points closely reflected the number of operating mines and mills. Export forelands were confined to markets within the Pacific Basin, chiefly California and Australia. The opening of the Panama Canal, the construction of grain elevators and the first pulp and paper mills, together with an extremely favourable trading environment after the war, stimulated a vast increase in cargo traffic from the Pacific Coast. The Phase of Expansion of the maritime foreign trade of the Port of British Columbia, between 1919 and 1929, was based on the expansion and diversification of the export trade in forest products, and, after 1921, on the spectacular development of the western grain route. Patterns of accessibility in maritime space were drastically altered by the opening of the Panama Canal, and, throughout this phase, the commodity flow through the new waterway dominated the pattern of foreign exports from the province. The United Kingdom emerged as the most important individual, export foreland, and the significance of Atlantic markets was further emphasised by the growth of waterborne lumber shipments to the Eastern United States. In the Phase of Recession, between 1930 and 1945, the magnitude of the export movement underwent marked fluctuations as first depression, and later war, profoundly influenced world commodity trade. The general decline in international shipping activity resulted in only a slight reduction in the number of shipping points on the Pacific Coast. Export forelands showed a marked contraction as tariff barriers excluded British Columbia exports from many foreign markets. The dominant directional pattern of commodity flow was still southward through the Panama Canal, despite the diversion of the grain trade to Eastern Canadian ports, but it now consisted chiefly of lumber shipments destined for the United Kingdom. The final episode in the development of the maritime foreign trade of the Port of British Columbia, the Phase of Post-War Growth, has witnessed an unprecedented expansion in the volume of grain, lumber, newsprint and wood pulp exported from the Pacific Coast. Shipments of iron and copper concentrates, coking coal and aluminum, have given added strength to this export movement. This phase of greatly augmented maritime intercourse has brought a new era of prosperity to all sections of the coast, but especially to the area served by the two outports. The most significant change in the distributional pattern of export forelands has been the development of a large commodity flow to Asian markets, the logical destinations for export shipments from the Port of British Columbia. For the first time since 1920, trade with Pacific countries has exceeded that shipped through the Panama Canal. There is every reason to conclude that the positive trend of the post-war period will be continued over the next decade. Each of the export commodities, investigated in this study, exhibits a common growth potential, and in the future, as in the past, the Port of British Columbia will play an important role in the transportation of these exports to foreign markets. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this thesis was to estimate the commodity trade flows of British Columbia with all foreign countries and with the Rest of Canada. The general problems in the estimation of regional trade flows, the available literature on the subject, as well as two prior studies of British Columbia's commodity trade are discussed briefly. Exports and imports are estimated separately and are analyzed by commodity groups. The estimates of exports are calculated with the help of the available production and shipments statistics and the data on railway freight traffic. Because of the nature of British Columbia's exports it was frequently feasible to employ the national customs ports data in the estimation of trade flows to foreign countries. It was found that the provincial customs ports data underestimate the magnitude of exports, especially exports to the united States. As a result of the uniquness of many of the important commodities which are exported from British Columbia, the magnitude of exports could be determined with a relatively high degree of accuracy. Estimates of exports to the Rest of Canada have been based on the transport statistics or have been calculated as residual by subtracting from the shipment data an estimate of foreign exports as well as an estimate of the provincial disappearance. The Estimates of commodity imports have been based primarily on estimates of consumption within the Province. The estimates of foreign imports depend mainly on the accuracy of the provincial customs ports data, although in some cases an estimate of transshipment through British Columbia to other parts of Canada has been made. Commodity imports from the Rest of Canada have again been estimated as a residual. In this case an estimate of foreign imports minus foreign exports and an estimate of production has been subtracted from the estimates of consumption. The possible sources of bias resulting from errors in the data or from invalid assumptions are taken into consideration. The estimates are summarized in the text. All details of the calculations have been put into the Appendices. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

This dissertation begins in 1821, when the Hudson's Bay Company took over the Columbia Department from the North West Company, which since 1813 had exported a single commodity (peltries) from the watersheds of two great rivers (the upper Fraser and lower Columbia) to two markets (London and Canton). This fur trade appeared at first so unpromising that the Hudson's Bay Company considered abandoning the lower Columbia region in 1821. Instead of doing so, between 1821 and 1843, the Hudson's Bay Company consolidated its operations in the Columbia Department through the application of a number of venerable commercial policies of the Canadian fur trade. The company extended its fur trading activities to all the major rivers of the region, from the Taku in the north to the Sacramento in the south. To support this massive trade extension the company developed large-scale provision trades in agricultural produce and salmon on the lower Columbia and Fraser rivers. Environmental and cultural conditions favoured these developments. The company also took advantage of the possibility of seaborne transport to develop markets at Oahu (Hawaii), Yerba Buena (San Francisco), and Sitka. To these places the company exported, on its Pacific fleet of ships, a range of country produce from the west coast, especially lumber and salmon. By 1843 the company had developed a new regional economy based on local commodities and Pacific markets; fur continued to be sent to London on an annual vessel. These new exports, and this new regional economy, depended on Native labour in addition to a permanent non-Native workforce of about 600. The company in several places colonized the Native economy and redirected its produce to foreign markets. In 1843 the trade in fur remained—despite the emergence of profitable new export trades—the company's major source of profit from the Columbia Department. The dissertation ends in 1843 when, fearing the possibility of an unfavourable boundary settlement, the company established Fort Victoria to serve as new departmental headquarters, at the same time inaugurating a considerable northward realignment of company activities on the Pacific. At this new post the fur trade would be a minor activity; company officials intended to develop a wide range of resources on Vancouver Island, all of them involving the hiring of Native workers. Increasingly, with the help of Native labour and trade, the company embarked on policies of resource development and extension of commerce on the coast, while the interior districts produced only fur. Difficulties of transport and distance from market prevented similar developments in the company's districts east of the Rocky Mountains.

This dissertation begins in 1821, when the Hudson's Bay Company took over the Columbia Department from the North West Company, which since 1813 had exported a single commodity (peltries) from the watersheds of two great rivers (the upper Fraser and lower Columbia) to two markets (London and Canton). This fur trade appeared at first so unpromising that the Hudson's Bay Company considered abandoning the lower Columbia region in 1821. Instead of doing so, between 1821 and 1843, the Hudson's Bay Company consolidated its operations in the Columbia Department through the application of a number of venerable commercial policies of the Canadian fur trade. The company extended its fur trading activities to all the major rivers of the region, from the Taku in the north to the Sacramento in the south. To support this massive trade extension the company developed large-scale provision trades in agricultural produce and salmon on the lower Columbia and Fraser rivers. Environmental and cultural conditions favoured these developments. The company also took advantage of the possibility of seaborne transport to develop markets at Oahu (Hawaii), Yerba Buena (San Francisco), and Sitka. To these places the company exported, on its Pacific fleet of ships, a range of country produce from the west coast, especially lumber and salmon. By 1843 the company had developed a new regional economy based on local commodities and Pacific markets; fur continued to be sent to London on an annual vessel. These new exports, and this new regional economy, depended on Native labour in addition to a permanent non-Native workforce of about 600. The company in several places colonized the Native economy and redirected its produce to foreign markets. In 1843 the trade in fur remained—despite the emergence of profitable new export trades—the company's major source of profit from the Columbia Department. The dissertation ends in 1843 when, fearing the possibility of an unfavourable boundary settlement, the company established Fort Victoria to serve as new departmental headquarters, at the same time inaugurating a considerable northward realignment of company activities on the Pacific. At this new post the fur trade would be a minor activity; company officials intended to develop a wide range of resources on Vancouver Island, all of them involving the hiring of Native workers. Increasingly, with the help of Native labour and trade, the company embarked on policies of resource development and extension of commerce on the coast, while the interior districts produced only fur. Difficulties of transport and distance from market prevented similar developments in the company's districts east of the Rocky Mountains. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

This thesis reports on the results of an interview-based survey of 21 British Columbia exporters active in the ASEAN region. The primary focus of the research was on the sources of information utilized by these exporters in uncovering their initial and most recent business opportunities in the ASEAN market. The respondents in the study displayed a clear preference for sources of information which were external to their organizations rather than internal and for personal sources of information rather than non-personal or documentary sources (including electronic databases). The single most important source of information on potential business opportunities in ASEAN was the personal network of contacts developed by the firm's own personnel, particularly the firm's local man in the field (whether he be an agent, distributor, or joint venture partner). Contrary to the U.S., Swedish and European experience described elsewhere in the literature, the respondents in this study rarely entered the ASEAN market on the basis of an "unsolicited export order". Nor did they attach much importance to bankers, consultants, brokers, lawyers, or government officials as sources of potentially useful information on new business opportunities in ASEAN. Also surprising was the fairly common usage of a "piggyback" or "big brother" method of initial market entry into ASEAN. In most of these cases, the respondents acted as subcontractors to larger Canadian and American firms active in the ASEAN marketplace. Equally surprising was the conspicuous lack of success enjoyed by two B.C. export consortiums formed to penetrate the ASEAN market. Finally, there was very little evidence of any major shift in the type of information sources used, over time. The best sources of information remained "personal contacts" and "the local man in the field". There was, however, some movement away from the use of personal contacts established by the firm's senior executives while on a preliminary swing through the region and towards the use of personal contacts established by the firm's local representative. In addition, there was a growing trend towards the use of indigenous or "bumiputra" representatives in ASEAN and away from the use of Chinese or expatriate middlemen. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

This thesis looks at the feasibility of promoting knowledge intensive service (KIS) exports to Asia as part of a local economic development strategy. To this end a two part study was conducted, consisting of a postal survey and a series of elite interviews. The study demonstrates that many Vancouver KIS firms have already established a presence in Pacific Rim markets; furthermore, future growth in these markets is likely. The study examines various characteristics of KIS exporters to Asia so as to enable policy makers to draft appropriate recommendations. The remainder of the thesis outlines current initiatives at senior and local levels of government. A case is made for increasing the scope of local government action in this sphere, and some potential initiatives are suggested. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Factors or characteristics which influence the export competitiveness of British Columbia's food and beverage processing industries in the Pacific Rim markets (i.e., Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China: Mainland, Singapore and South Korea) are studied using pooled time-series and cross-sectional data, for the years 1988 through 1992. Changes in exports and in export market share are explained by changes in systematic exogenous and endogenous differences amongst B.C. and competing provincial industries over the five year period. The results indicate that, converse to what is suggested in the literature, there is no statistical consistency in the explanatory capability of comparative cost, industrial organization, or firm strategy variables to explain competitiveness in Pacific Rim markets. Rather, it appears export success is due to many unique factors at the firm or provincial level. Hence, it is not possible to make generalizations about the competitiveness determinants of these industries in the Pacific Rim markets.

Factors or characteristics which influence the export competitiveness of British Columbia's food and beverage processing industries in the Pacific Rim markets (i.e., Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China: Mainland, Singapore and South Korea) are studied using pooled time-series and cross-sectional data, for the years 1988 through 1992. Changes in exports and in export market share are explained by changes in systematic exogenous and endogenous differences amongst B.C. and competing provincial industries over the five year period. The results indicate that, converse to what is suggested in the literature, there is no statistical consistency in the explanatory capability of comparative cost, industrial organization, or firm strategy variables to explain competitiveness in Pacific Rim markets. Rather, it appears export success is due to many unique factors at the firm or provincial level. Hence, it is not possible to make generalizations about the competitiveness determinants of these industries in the Pacific Rim markets. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate