The bridge replaced a previous ferry service several kilometers upstream and will be run by a private consortium, the Golden Crossing General Partnership, until June 2041.

The project was planned to permit archaeological teams to comb through a part of First Nations land that the bridge passed through.

The team, led by a Simon Fraser University archaeology professor, discovered pottery shards, metal implements and 3,600-year-old wapato, or potatoes, evidence that the aboriginal peoples in the area engaged in farming.

[4] Some members of the Coast Salish Katzie Nation decried the way that the bridge affected what they described as a "3000 year old burial ground".

[7] Bilfinger Berger applied to the federal government to bring in foreigners to work on the bridge, arguing that there was a shortage of qualified construction workers in Canada.

The BC Federation of Labour disagreed, arguing that Bilfinger Berger was simply unprepared to pay market rates for skilled workers and wanted to exploit foreigners.

[9] The project was financed as a Public Private Partnership (P3) through which TransLink is leasing back the bridge over a 35-year timeframe.

[22] The new bridge used an electronic tolling system to track vehicles that cross to recover construction costs.

Vehicles without an electronic tolling device have their license plates identified through an automated video recognition system, and will be billed accordingly.

[25] On July 15, 2016 tolls on the Golden Ears Bridge increased to cover the rise in the Consumer Price Index.

Premier John Horgan announced that all tolls on the Golden Ears bridge will be removed starting September 1, 2017.

The agency has indicated that they expect revenues to increase once drivers can no longer use the nearby Port Mann Bridge for free, as it will be tolled starting in 2013.