Hornby Island Community Page

Summer 2023 Service Enhancements Survey

April 22 - May 10, 2024

In May 2023, our teams travelled to Denman and Hornby Island to hear your input on summer service enhancements and the Denman East Terminal Upgrade. We've received many positive comments from staff and passengers on the service improvements. Now, we are looking for your feedback on how these changes impacted your travel experience.

Service enhancements included:

• Two-ship service between Buckley Bay and Denman West, adding an additional 21 standard vehicle spaces per sailing during the peak season
• Doubling the capacity between Denman East and Shingle Spit by replacing the Kahloke with the Quinitsa, adding 23 additional standard-sized vehicle spaces per sailing from May 18, 2023 - January 19, 2024
• Adjusting the vessel shuttling policy to reduce congestion at terminals
• Updating digital boards at terminals, onboard announcements, and website travel tips to encourage travellers to respect the legal speed limit
• Increasing the number of terminal staff to help with marshalling and ticketing

Please provide your feedback in the online survey here. A printable version of the survey can be found here and dropped off at Buckley Bay terminal before May 8, 2024.

This spring and summer we’re getting back out with our Ferry Advisory Committees and the communities we serve. With a focus on resetting conversations, we’ll be looking at what we’ve heard from FACs and communities over the past two years. We’ll work together to:

• Review the list of feedback we’ve received from each community
• Prioritize the feedback we can action
• Establish criteria that will help a new Community Prioritization Panel make recommendations about what’s most important across the ferry system

This work will result in a prioritized list of action items for each community. From there, a Community Prioritization Panel (CPP) will work to consolidate these items into a prioritized list for the whole BC Ferries system.

All FAC chairs have been invited to participate in the CPP and the panel will deliver a final public report by October 31, 2024. This report will help guide how BC Ferries reviews and makes decisions on changes needed to improve service and experience for customers, and also help inform long-term decisions that align with the ongoing Charting the Course vision process.

Timelines

• May: Virtual meetings with all Ferry Advisory Committees
• June/July: In-person community workshops

Dates and details for community workshops will be posted to this page shortly.

New Safety and Security Measures

In order to create a safe and respectful environment for all, BC Ferries has implemented changes based on recommendations made in its safety review, including:

• Establishing safety and security policies for public events that align with WorkSafe BC requirements.
• Rolling out a new mandatory respectful workplace policy and training across the company, including training in Prevention of Violence in the Workplace for all BC Ferries representatives who will take part in community events.
• Establishing plans and templates to support safety and security assessments in advance of FAC and community meetings.
• Establishing new processes for public events, including the request for participants to RSVP ahead of time, new sign-in requirements, and a new Code of Conduct that will apply to all public events. We’ll provide more information on what you can expect to see at events in an upcoming post to this page.
• Updating the Terms of Reference and Code of Conduct to ensure the correct foundations are in place to support a mutually respectful and productive relationship with FACs.

Stay Informed

We’ll be providing updates to this page in the coming weeks, click the ‘Stay Informed’ icon on the right hand side of the page to receive updates to your email inbox.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

The BC Ferries Community Relations Team

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 Denman Island and Hornby 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 Denman East and Shingle Spit terminals?

As we note above, we have prioritized the work required to ensure the maintenance and continued reliability of our infrastructure for Denman and Hornby Island residents. As a result, the terminal upgrades planned for both Denman East and Shingle Spit have been deferred for the foreseeable future.

We’ve heard from the community the importance of safe vehicle travel across the islands. For that reason we will continue to stay connected with our partners including Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, Islands Trust, and other stakeholders to work on operational improvements for vehicle staging, traffic control and communication.

In addition, the intention is to provide year-round increases in service beginning in 2026, once a vessel is available to be deployed full-time to route 22 (Denman East – Hornby Island). In the interim, we will continue to provide increased peak-season service as we did last summer; utilizing the Kahloke alongside the Baynes sound connector on route 21 (Buckley Bay – Denman West), and positioning the Quinitsa on route 22. These adjustments showed considerable improvements in service and decreased wait times last summer. We remain interested in the community’s feedback on changes to summer service and will provide an online survey in the coming weeks.

At Shingle Spit terminal, we continue to work with K’omoks and Qualicum First Nations on remediation measures for the archeological site. We will continue to keep the community updated as these efforts progress. In addition to this remediation work, we are aware of the hatching on the trees surrounding the Denman East terminal and have contacted an arborist to explore means to ensure that the ecosystem remains healthy.

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.

Denman Island West – Vancouver Island (Buckley Bay)

April 2, 2024 – April 11, 2024

As part of our summer readiness planning, the Quinitsa will be providing service for the Denman Island West – Buckley Bay (Vancouver Island) route between Tuesday, April 2 and Thursday, April 11, 2024, while the Baynes Sound Connector undergoes annual maintenance.

During this period, the sailing schedules will remain the same, but maximum permitted gross vehicle weight (GVW) will be reduced to 39,500 kilograms due to load limits of the berth infrastructure.

We recognize some customers will be impacted when travelling on this route, and we thank the community and local businesses in advance for your patience as we complete this necessary work.

For up-to-date sailing and departure information, visit bcferries.com or follow @BCFerries on X.

BC Ferries is removing a dead tree that poses a risk to the cistern building at the Denman West terminal. In the interest of safety, and given the arrival of winter storm season, BC Ferries has contracted an arborist to safely remove the tree. No other trees will be removed.

Now is the time to shape the vision of the coastal ferry service in BC.

Transportation, transit and ferry systems around the world are under pressure resulting from the pandemic, population growth, climate change, inflation and other factors. BC’s coastal ferry system is no exception, and BC Ferries is responding with actions to address current operational issues. We are also embarking on a long-term transformative journey to reshape our coastal ferry services in response to the evolving needs of the communities we serve.

We invite you to participate in Charting the Course, an initiative that aims to define what is needed to keep people, goods, and services in coastal communities connected and moving through to 2050 and beyond.

Hearing from you is an important part of this initiative to help us build a more sustainable and resilient ferry system. The first phase of engagement is open until November 28. Learn more and participate here: https://www.bcferriesprojects.ca/bc-ferries-charting-the-course

The engagement summary report is now available for the Denman and Hornby engagement sessions held in late May.

• View the report HERE.
• View verbatim comments from the online survey HERE.

Once we are able to resume in-person engagements, we'll be back out to the Denman and Hornby Island communities to continue our discussions on both the Denman East terminal upgrades and the evaluation of this summer's increased service. Stay tuned to this page for more details.

Update: September 18, 2023

Today terminal maintenance teams were on site covering the exposed midden to protect it from wind and rain as we enter into the wet season. This will help to prevent erosion while we complete assessment work, and determine remediation measures with K'omoks and Qualicum First Nations. Terminal maintenance staff will be checking the covers regularly to ensure they remain in place. Should you notice that adjustments need to be made to the covers, please email engagement@bcferries.com.

Update: September 12, 2023

BC Ferries is grateful to be working together with K’όmoks First Nation and Qualicum First Nation in addressing the significant disturbance of an environmentally and culturally sensitive site near our Shingle Spit terminal on Hornby Island. We have met with representatives from both Nations and we will continue to work alongside them, and in alignment with Provincial laws and K’όmoks First Nation policies, to determine next steps towards remediation at this site.

Update: August 23 (3:30pm)

As a company that is deeply committed to reconciliation and respectful relationships with First Nations partners, we are not just concerned but also very disturbed by news that on Friday, August 18, an environmentally and culturally sensitive site near Shingle Spit terminal on Hornby Island was disturbed by BC Ferries.

Work was immediately halted, K’omoks First Nation immediately notified, and senior members of the BC Ferries team travelled to the site to view the area and meet with community members. This included the Regional Manager of Terminal Operations, the Director of Terminal Maintenance, and the Director of Community Relations.

This morning, BC Ferries team met with K’omoks and Qualicum First Nation representatives to walk the site and answer questions. Further meetings will take place next week with the Nations once they have had time to review the outcome of today’s meeting with their leadership.

BC Ferries safe and respectful stewardship of the lands and waters on which we operate is paramount which is why we’ve taken immediate action to prevent this type of situation from happening again.

All terminal maintenance staff organizing any work involving ground disturbance or tree removal must have a written project plan signed off by their manager and director before proceeding. The new process also stipulates that the Regional Terminal Maintenance Managers and Director are to ensure the Indigenous Relations team and Operations teams are aware of any work planned of this nature.

Update: August 22, 2023 (3:00pm)

We would like to thank the community members who came down to the Shingle Spit terminal to meet with us yesterday. The conversation was both passionate and respectful, and we appreciate the time taken to speak with us. We will be meeting with representatives from K’omoks First Nation tomorrow to walk the site and hear from the Nation about how they would like to move forward, given the archaeological sensitivity of the surrounding area. We will continue to update the community as we determine our next steps in remediating the tump, a feature we know the community holds dear.

Update: August 22, 2023 (9:00am)

Work has been stopped and senior members of the BC Ferries team will be on site at the Shingle Spit terminal following reports that a sensitive environmental area has been disturbed.

Work was being done to support the installation of a water cistern to address water shortages that result in washroom closures at this terminal and negatively impact our customers. We regret the miscommunication between BC Ferries and our contractor that has led to the situation. Ground disturbance and tree removal were not planned as part of this work.

We understand the archaeological sensitivity and the importance of this area to the community. We will continue to provide updates as next steps are determined.

September 19: Teams will be on site at Hornby Island on Thursday, September 21 to fall two dead trees that are currently posing a hazard near the terminal. The trees will be laid down and left. No live trees will be cut and no digging of any kind will take place. Our terminal maintenance team will be on site to supervise all work and there will be no operational impacts.

September 12: Two trees have broken near our Shingle Spit terminal and are posing a danger to the roadway and staff parking area. The trees that have come down are snagged on other trees in the area and BC Ferries staff do not have the required skills or equipment to do this work. The area has been flagged off for safety and we are in the process of hiring a contractor to come and safely lay the trees down. There will not be any digging or disruption of the forest floor and BC Ferries staff will be on site to supervise all work being done.