Metro Vancouver's new rapid transit CanadaLine will open by Labour Day, officials announced Friday. (CBC)

Metro Vancouver's new rapid transit line will open three months ahead of schedule, the B.C. government announced Friday morning.

The $1.9-billion Canada Line from downtown Vancouver to the Vancouver International Airport and Richmond will be open by early September, officials said.

Premier Gordon Campbell and other officials rode the entire length of the route for the first time on Friday morning, with reporters.

Campbell said the line will provide the same transportation capacity as 10 lanes of roadway along the route, reduce the number of one-way vehicle trips per day by 200,000, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 11,000 to 14,000 tonnes a year.

The elevated rapid-transit system will have 16 stations, two bridges, and approximately 19 kilometres of tunnel. It was built by TransLink, the regional transportation authority, with funding largely from the provincial and federal governments.

The construction, which began three years ago, has triggered opposition from merchants along the route whose business were adversely affected by construction, with one store owner currently suing TransLink over her losses.