A bomb threat to the XXXX building on the waterfront in North Vancouver had hundreds of evacuated employees from companies in the area out in the rain Tuesday afternoon. The RCMP was called at 1:15 p.m. with the bomb threat, Cpl. Randall Wong of the North Vancouver RCMP said.

"(The caller) said a bomb is going to detonate at XXXX in North Vancouver ," he explained. Wong said squad cars responded within a minute to notify XXXX staff and evacuate the building. An adjacent office building at XXX Esplanade West was also cleared.

"It's pretty scary, I hope it doesn't go off," said one evacuated employee standing in a large group holding umbrellas and watching the scene of police cars and emergency workers from across the street.

At around 3 p.m. Wong said officers were securing the perimeter of the XXXX building and preparing to go in with a K9 unit to sniff for explosives. He said police must assume the worst, while acknowledging a hoax call could be possible.

"Any government corporation can be the focal point of a lot of anger, but we can't afford to be wrong," he said. "A lunch box full of explosive could cause a whole lot of collateral damage. Glass from the XXXX building could blow up to a block away."