Vancouver, BC, Canada

Vancouver, BC, Canada: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Vancouver is a major city on the Pacific coast of Western Canada, situated in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province and a significant Pacific Rim metropolitan center, Vancouver serves as a landing point for two submarine cables connecting it to destinations across Canada and the broader Asia-Pacific region. These cables establish Vancouver as a node in both domestic coastal connectivity and transoceanic routing toward Japan and Taiwan.

The two cables landing at Vancouver represent a combination of regional Canadian infrastructure and long-haul transpacific capacity. One cable, Connected Coast, links communities within Canada, while the other, Topaz, extends Vancouver's submarine cable reach across the Pacific Ocean to Japan and Taiwan. Together, they position Vancouver as a point where domestic and intercontinental cable routes converge on Canada's Pacific coast.

Cables Landing at Vancouver, BC, Canada

Connected Coast reached ready-for-service status in 2024 and connects Vancouver to other landing points within Canada. The cable forms part of a domestic submarine cable network serving Canadian communities, extending coastal connectivity along routes that remain entirely within Canadian waters and territory.

Topaz reached ready-for-service status in 2023 and connects Vancouver to landing points in Canada, Japan, and Taiwan. As a transpacific cable, Topaz bridges the Pacific Ocean from the Canadian Pacific coast to major endpoints in East Asia, establishing a direct submarine cable route between Western Canada and two of the Asia-Pacific region's most significant telecommunications markets.

Regional Context

Within Canada's submarine cable infrastructure — which spans 21 cables across 155 landing points — Vancouver shares a two-cable count with several other Canadian landing points, including Halifax, NS; Kangiqsujuaq, QC; Prince Rupert, BC; and Puvirnituq, QC. On Canada's Pacific coast specifically, Vancouver sits alongside Prince Rupert and the single-cable landing points of Addenbroke Island and Ahousat, all in British Columbia, forming the western edge of Canada's submarine cable geography.

Network Role

Vancouver's two-cable configuration positions it as a modest but geographically significant hub on Canada's Pacific coast. The Connected Coast cable addresses domestic coastal connectivity, while Topaz extends the city's reach across the Pacific to Japan and Taiwan, making Vancouver one of a limited number of Canadian landing points with direct transoceanic submarine cable links. This dual role — serving both intra-Canadian routes and a long-distance transpacific corridor — distinguishes Vancouver from single-cable coastal landing points in the same province.

Within the broader Canadian submarine cable graph, Vancouver represents one of the few points where transpacific and domestic cable routes meet on the country's western coastline, complementing the Atlantic-facing cable infrastructure concentrated at eastern Canadian landing points such as Halifax.