How do you get from YVR to North Vancouver?

The Canada Line and the SeaBus get you from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver for $11.60 by tap on a weekday before 6:30 pm, or $10.00 in the evening and at weekends, with 39 minutes of riding and one change at Waterfront Station. A taxi earns its fare after the last Sunday boat has gone or when you land with ski bags, and since North Vancouver sits outside YVR's flat taxi fares, the meter runs the whole way.

We compared the four ways out of the airport on TransLink's 2026 fare tables and timetables, the Passenger Transportation Board's taxi rates and YVR's own taxi and ride-hail pages, all read on 16 October 2026. Drive times come from the OpenStreetMap routing engine in free-flowing traffic. Every fare we added up ourselves says so beside the figure.

Which way out of YVR suits your arrival?

The Canada Line and SeaBus cost least for one or two people carrying their own bags, and the table shows where a taxi or a car makes up the difference.

Way	Time from YVR to Lonsdale Quay	Adult price in 2026	Tax	Suits	Drawback
Canada Line and SeaBus	27 min on the train and 12 min on the boat, plus the change at Waterfront	$11.60 by tap on weekdays before 6:30 pm; $10.00 after 6:30 pm, at weekends and on holidays (our sums)	Transit fares carry no sales tax	Solo travellers and couples who can carry their bags	The last Sunday boat leaves Waterfront at 11:22 pm
Taxi	38 min in free-flowing traffic (routing engine)	About $61 on the meter by our estimate, before the tip	GST sits inside the meter under the Board's Rates Rules Manual	Late arrivals and groups with ski bags	No flat fare to North Vancouver, and traffic adds waiting time at $38.93 an hour
Uber or Lyft	38 min in free-flowing traffic	Not published; prices move with demand	The Board's $4.43 minimum fare includes GST	Riders already set up in either app	Prices climb at busy times
Rental car	38 min in free-flowing traffic	Each company sets its own rate	Plus GST, PST and the rental tax	Ski days on the local hills and the drive up Highway 99	Parking at the Pinnacle costs $42 a night with taxes included

How does the Canada Line and SeaBus trip work?

Ride the Canada Line from YVR–Airport station to Waterfront at the end of the line, walk through the station to the SeaBus terminal and cross Burrard Inlet to Lonsdale Quay. The station sits between the domestic and international terminals. Trains leave every 6 minutes at rush hour and every 8 minutes through the middle of the day, and the gap stretches to 12 minutes in the evening and 15 late at night. TransLink's station table gives 27 minutes to Waterfront.

The SeaBus takes 12 minutes to cross. A boat leaves Waterfront every 10 minutes in weekday rush hours and every 15 minutes through the rest of the day, and after about 9 pm the gap opens to half an hour. Tap the same card or phone at every gate. One fare covers the train and the boat as long as you board within 90 minutes of tapping in at the airport. Even a 30-minute wait for a late-evening boat keeps the whole trip inside that window.

Lonsdale Quay puts you at the foot of Lonsdale Avenue in Lower Lonsdale, and all three of the neighbourhood's hotels stand within about 400 metres of the terminal. The Coast Lonsdale Quay Hotel takes the third floor of the market building itself, and the Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier sits about 350 metres east along the water. TransLink's 236 to Capilano and Grouse Mountain leaves from the bus exchange beside the terminal, and your airport tap carries you onto it inside the same 90 minutes.

The Musqueam Nation counts YVR as part of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) territory, and its Sea Island IR 3 lies beside the airport. At the other end of the crossing, the City of North Vancouver acknowledges Lonsdale Quay's ground as the traditional and unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

What does the transit trip cost?

An adult pays $11.60 by tap on a weekday before 6:30 pm and $10.00 after 6:30 pm, at weekends and on statutory holidays, by our sums of TransLink's 2026 fares. Each total is a zone fare plus the $6.50 YVR Airport AddFare, which TransLink adds to every trip that starts at the airport and runs past Bridgeport.

Vancouver is fare zone 1, and Richmond and North Vancouver both sit in zone 2. On weekdays before 6:30 pm, SkyTrain and the SeaBus charge by the zones you cross, and TransLink's fare estimator treats Richmond to North Vancouver as two zones, so you pay the $5.10 two-zone fare. After 6:30 pm, and all day at weekends and on holidays, the whole region drops to the $3.50 one-zone fare.

A Compass Card loaded with Stored Value cuts the zone fare to $4.20 or $2.85, which makes the airport trip $10.70 on a weekday afternoon and $9.35 in the evening (our sums). The card needs a $6 deposit, and TransLink refunds it with the leftover balance at the customer service centre in Waterfront Station. Children 12 and under ride free with no ticket. Seniors and teenagers pay concession fares only on an orange Concession Compass Card, because a tap of a credit card always charges the adult fare plus the AddFare. TransLink fares carry no GST or PST.

When do the last trains and boats run?

The last SeaBus leaves Waterfront for Lonsdale Quay at 1:22 am from Monday to Saturday and at 11:22 pm on Sundays and holidays. A Sunday-night landing therefore needs a train out of YVR–Airport by about 10:50 pm, by the Canada Line page's reckoning, and anything later means a taxi. The last train leaves the airport at 12:54 am every night.

After a red-eye flight, the first train leaves YVR–Airport at 5:09 am, and the first boat leaves Waterfront at 6:01 am on weekdays and 6:16 am on Saturdays. Sundays and holidays start late, with the first SeaBus from Waterfront at 8:16 am, so after a 6 am Sunday landing you either wait two hours for the boat or take a cab to North Vancouver.

When is a taxi worth the money?

A taxi makes sense whenever the boats have stopped, and for a group of three or four with luggage who would rather pay a little more for the door-to-door ride. North Vancouver lies outside YVR's flat zone fares, which stop at Vancouver and Richmond on the airport's zone map, so the driver runs the meter and adds the airport's $4.00 Passenger Load Charge.

North Shore Taxi and the other Metro Vancouver companies charge a $3.75 flag and $2.18 a kilometre under Rule 9 of the Passenger Transportation Board's Rates Rules Manual of 30 August 2026, and waiting time costs $38.93 an hour. The routing engine puts Lonsdale Quay 24.5 km from the airport. That comes to about $61 with the load charge, by our estimate, before the tip and any time spent stopped in traffic on the bridges. In May 2026 the Board also let companies apply for a one-time 3.92% rise, so a meter from a company that took the rise reads up to 3.92% higher. The Board requires every taxi meter to show fares with GST included, and the same manual puts GST inside YVR's flat zone fares too.

Two adults on transit pay $23.20 on a weekday afternoon and four pay $46.40, so one cab at about $61 costs a group of four roughly $15 more (our sums). Drivers may not charge for bags. Taxis wait at the stands on Level 2 of both the international and domestic arrivals halls, first come, first served.

Uber and Lyft pick up from marked areas on Level 2 of both terminals and at the South Terminal, and YVR asks you to collect your bags before you request the ride. Their prices move with demand, and the Board's minimum ride-hail fare in Metro Vancouver rose to $4.43 on 18 August 2026, with GST included under Rule 17 of its manual.

Should you rent a car at the airport?

A rental car pays its way when your plans run to the ski hills or the Sea to Sky Highway. The drive to Lonsdale Quay takes 38 minutes over 24.5 km in free-flowing traffic by the routing engine, and every overnight then costs parking: $42 a night at the Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier with taxes included, and EasyPark's rates at the Coast Lonsdale Quay Hotel. Rental rates post before tax, and the label reads plus GST, PST and the rental tax.

Mount Seymour Road and Highway 99 to Whistler need winter tires from 1 October to 31 March, and Cypress Bowl Road from 1 October to 30 April. The province says most rental cars come on M+S tires, which meet the legal minimum, and it suggests asking the rental desk for winter tires before you drive beyond Greater Vancouver. Our winter tire guide sets out the rules road by road.

Quick answers

How long does it take to get from YVR to North Vancouver by transit?

The Canada Line and SeaBus take 39 minutes of riding from YVR to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, with 27 minutes on the train to Waterfront and 12 minutes on the boat. Add the walk through Waterfront Station and a wait of up to 15 minutes for most of the day.

How much is transit from YVR to North Vancouver?

An adult tap from YVR to Lonsdale Quay costs $11.60 on a weekday before 6:30 pm and $10.00 after 6:30 pm, at weekends and on holidays in 2026, by our sums of TransLink's zone fare and its $6.50 YVR Airport AddFare.

Is there a flat taxi fare from YVR to North Vancouver?

No. North Vancouver lies outside YVR's taxi zones, so the ride runs on the meter with the $4.00 Passenger Load Charge added. That comes to about $61 to Lonsdale Quay by our estimate from the 2026 meter rates, before the tip.

What time is the last SeaBus to North Vancouver?

The last SeaBus to North Vancouver leaves Waterfront Station at 1:22 am from Monday to Saturday and at 11:22 pm on Sundays and holidays.

Do children pay on the Canada Line and SeaBus?

No. Children 12 and under ride the Canada Line and the SeaBus free, and they need no ticket.