Alberta Wheat Pool

The concrete silos of the Alberta Wheat Pool are a testament to Vancouver’s long history — a key link in the global grain trade. Vancouver’s port emerged as a hub for trade in the decade after the Panama Canal opened in 1914, as it became as cost effective to ship grain from the Prairies from the West Coast. By the late 1920s, Vancouver handled more export tonnage of any harbour in Canada, and two-thirds of it was grain, sent to the U.K., Asia, Australia and Latin America.

The first grain elevator was built by federal government in 1916. The elevator was described at the time as the city’s first “leviathan masses of reinforced concrete.” The elevator was located on the eastern border of the city because all the lands to the west had been previously acquired by Canadian Pacific, which had no stake in the grain trade.

Today, the facility is called Cascade Terminal.

Source

Exploring Vancouver by Harold Kalman and Robin Ward, Prairie Perspectives University of Winnipeg

More information

https://www.viterra.com/web/canada/home