Customs in Vancouver

We will be flying into Vancouver before our cruise. Would it be a problem at customs to have beef jerky in my checked suitcase (for the land portion of our Alaskan journey)?

Checked or carry-on irrelevant; as long as you aren't bringing an entire suitcase full there's no issue with processed meat in sealed packs like jerky. I cross the border pretty frequently with up to a dozen small packets (tend to stock up in the US as more flavours & better pricing), IIRC the official limit is 20kg/44lbs for 'personal use' importation. If you are bringing a suitcase full, you can double-check AIRS for the exact amount of your allowance.

as long as you declare meat on your declaration form. Normally no issue but you should declare. They are normally concerned about raw meat but I got hassled for having cat food in my car without declaring. I have brought Subway sandwiches with meat into Canada with no issue so you should be fine.

This may help you.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/information-for-consumers/travellers/what-can-i-bring-into-canada-/eng/1389648337546/1389648516990

Keith