Capital Planning Update April 2024

As an essential public service, it is our job to keep people moving safely and reliably. We review our capital plan regularly to ensure it’s helping us achieve those goals. Inevitably, that means some tough decisions as we must work within our budget.

During this year’s annual review, we prioritized two main aspects of our capital investment plan:

1. The work required to ensure the maintenance and continued reliability of our infrastructure
2. The delivery of vessels to replace our aging fleet and meet the growing capacity demands of the communities we serve, and the replacement of berths required to support new vessel introductions.

As a result, we have had to defer or adjust the scope of some of our previously planned projects to work within available funds. For more on project impacts for Campbell River, Quadra Island and Cortes Island, please read on.

Although some adjustments have been made, our plans continue to include $356 million in capital investments this year, and approximately $2.2 billion over the next four years (Performance Term Six). We also plan to pursue additional funding opportunities that would allow us to re-evaluate capital expenditures before the end of the next performance term (March 31, 2028). We will keep you updated as we continue to re-evaluate.

What does this mean for Campbell River terminal?

As we note above, we have prioritized the work required to ensure the maintenance and continued reliability of our infrastructure for Campbell River, Quadra Island and Cortes Island residents. As a result, some of the terminal upgrades planned for Campbell River have been deferred for the foreseeable future.

Work to update the pump ashore facilities that began in November will be completed this spring, as planned. We also continue to make significant investments in the community as we prepare for the introduction of two new all-electric Island Class vessels and the installation of supporting terminal infrastructure for both Campbell River and Quadra Island terminals.

The deferral of the terminal upgrades planned for the Campbell River terminal does not impact the work planned for the Heriot Bay and Whaletown terminals where we continue to look forward to welcoming a new Island Class vessel.

We will continue to stay connected with our partners including Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, local transit and other stakeholders, to work on operational improvements for vehicle staging, traffic control, and enhance customer communication at these terminals, and we commit to reconnecting with the community should plans change in the future.

We thank you for your understanding as we make the challenging decisions required to ensure the maintenance and continued reliability of our infrastructure. We will reconnect as plans for these terminals evolve should funding become available.