Employers at ports in British Columbia will lock out unionized supervisors, a move that threatens to freeze trade on Canada’s West Coast and add to the country’s supply chain disruptions.

The BC Maritime Employers Association said it would lock out workers on Monday at Canada's Port of Vancouver after a negotiating deadline

Employers have locked out more than 700 unionized workers—including in Squamish—in the latest development in a labour dispute that the union says will shut down all ports in British Columbia until further notice.

Employers at British Columbia ports say they are going ahead with locking out more than 700 foremen across the province after strike activities from union members began. The lockout will shut port terminals operated by members of the BC Maritime Employers Association,

The provincewide lockout against a union of more than 700 foremen at all British Columbia ports is expected to begin at 8 a.m. The BC Maritime Employers Association has said the lockout is meant to "facilitate a safe and orderly wind-down of operations" in light of "escalating and unpredictable strike action."

The BC Maritime Employers Association said Monday that its "difficult decision" to impose the lockout came after the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 commenced "industry-wide strike activity" at employers' terminals. The B.C ...