Quadra Island Community Page

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 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.

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

Quathiaski Cove (Quadra Island) – Campbell River

September 9, 16, 22 and 23, 2023

Annual operational readiness drills are scheduled to take place on select dates in September on both the Island Nagalis and Island K’ulut’a. These drills will result in the following sailing cancellations:

Service will resume at 10:20 pm departing Campbell River with the vessel operating in shuttle mode until the scheduled 11:30 pm departure from Campbell River on September 9, 22, 23. Additionally, service will resume as scheduled beginning with the 5:25 pm departure from Campbell River and the 5:50 pm sailing from Quathiaski Cove on September 16.

Customers can find information about when BC Ferries uses shuttle sailings here.

BC Ferries would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding during these important safety and emergency training events.

For more information or traffic updates, follow us on Twitter @BCFerries or visit bcferries.com.

Quathiaski Cove (Quadra Island) – Campbell River (Vancouver Island)
August 26 – 31, 2023

Due to tidal conditions between Quathiaski Cove (Quadra Island) and Campbell River (Vancouver Island), some buses, RVs, low bed vehicles and other vehicles with very low ground clearance, or extended overhangs on the rear axle may be asked to wait for a later sailing on the Island Nagalis or Island K'ulut'a for the safety of the vehicle, the vessel, and the environment during the following sailing times:

To ensure the safe loading of the vessels, we recommend arriving at the terminal outside of the specified time frames for the designated vehicle types. This will help mitigate the risk of potential loading issues.

To check if the tidal conditions are low on the day of your travel, please see the latest updates available here: https://tides.gc.ca/en/stations/08074.

We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience you may experience as a result of this loading delay. The crew will work to get you to your destination as quickly as possible, when it is safe to do so.

For more information or traffic updates, please follow @BCFerries on Twitter or visit bcferries.com.

Today marks National Indigenous Peoples Day, a day we celebrate and recognize the diverse cultures, traditions and immeasurable contributions of First Nations, Inuit, & Métis across Canada. Indigenous Peoples are the traditional stewards of the rivers, lakes, land & sea where we are privileged to live and work.

#NIPD2023 serves as an opportunity to learn and deepen our understanding of the Indigenous cultures throughout Canada.

• Learn more about Indigenous Peoples land, languages, history and culture: https://maps.fpcc.ca/
• The First Peoples’ map highlights BC's Indigenous language regions, artists & artworks, place names & landmarks: https://native-land.ca/
• Native Land is an app that allows users to map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages: https://ow.ly/1pUt50OPX10
• Use the @BCGovNews map to find events happening in your community celebrating National Indigenous History Month: https://ow.ly/fif850OPX4l
• Learn more about the history, cultures, and experiences of Indigenous Peoples in Canada: https://ow.ly/mJ4250OPX91

Learn about National Indigenous People’s Day and how you can participate in celebrating their culture and heritage.

#BCFerries remains committed to fostering meaningful relationships with the Indigenous communities we serve. We recognize the importance of collaboration and partnership as we work toward a future of mutual respect, reconciliation and inclusivity.

We know there have been questions circulating in the community about two important operational topics:

1. The tidal restrictions on loading low clearance vehicles (like RV’s and commercial trucks) on our Campbell River – Quadra Island route (route 23)
2. The addition of a round trip to our summer schedule for our Quadra Island – Cortes Island route (route 24)

We hope this update will help address some of those questions.

Loading low clearance vehicles during extreme tides

We operate in a marine environment where the tide changes twice per day, and where the timing of those tidal changes varies throughout the year.

Extreme high and low tides, like the tides we’ve recently experienced, can create challenges for loading low-clearance vehicles like RVs and commercial trucks. This is because the ramp that vehicles travel over between the shore and the ship sits at a steep angle and vehicles can bottom out or become stuck. On the infrequent occasions when tides are extreme, some low clearance vehicles are not able to safely transit the ramp until the tide rises or falls.

This situation is not unique to our Island Class vessels and can occur with a number of ships at a number of terminals throughout our fleet. We know these situations are frustrating for customers when they occur. Safety is always our number one priority, and our terminal staff will resume loading these vehicles as soon as it is safe to do so.

Additional round trip for Route 24 this summer

This summer we have added a round trip to the sailing schedule between Quadra Island and Cortes Island to support the Cortes Island community with additional capacity during the busy summer season. The additional round trip will occur Monday – Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The additional round trip is not available on Thursday and Sunday to provide time for fueling, sewage pump-ashore and regulatory fire and boat drills during daylight hours.

We know the addition of a round trip means that the vessel will effectively shuttle non-stop all day, creating a schedule with tight turn-around times and some risk to on-time performance. We recently trialed a version of this additional round-trip schedule that included an extended lay-over in Whaletown. This trial was not successful due to a combination of fueling, pump ashore delays and insufficient turn around times. The schedule we are using for the summer does not include the extended lay over and has approximately five more minutes per round trip.

We will be evaluating the enhanced schedule throughout the summer, relying on crew and community feedback to determine success and/or adjustments that could be made for next season. With the introduction of two-ship service on the Campbell River – Quadra Island route, we anticipate connections to Vancouver Island will be easier for Cortes residents with more frequent service and more capacity available. End of day overloads are not expected with the additional trip, however, if overloads occur at Heriot Bay on the last sailing of the day, crew will continue the practice of completing an additional after-hours sailing to ensure all travellers get to their destination.

In an effort to improve connections for those customers making deliveries to the islands, the Dangerous Goods sailings for June 22 to September 4, 2023 have been changed. Updates are outlined below, and are noted on the schedules online.

Previous sailing times:

New sailing times:

The new BC Ferries app is now available for download to your mobile device in the App Store and Google Play Store. Designed with convenience and personalization in mind, the app makes it easier than ever to check schedules and current conditions, book sailings and manage your trips.

New features and enhancements include:

• Travel Preferences: Allows customers to save travel details for quick access to schedules and current conditions and make faster bookings on frequently travelled routes.
• Current Conditions: Route sailing status and estimated deck space will be easier to view with the updated app layout.
• Making and Managing Bookings: New designs and personalized travel preferences will enable easier bookings. Customers can quickly jump to the next available sailing with the new Express book feature, and manage existing bookings on-the-go.
• Schedules: Enhanced features on daily and seasonal schedules and the introduction of travel preferences will make it easier to trip plan.
• Alerts: Gives customers the option to receive timely push- notifications for service notices and upcoming sailing reminders on their device.
• Seamless check-in: Customers can find their upcoming trips on their app dashboard to access the booking barcode for seamless check-in at the terminal.

This is BC Ferries first release and the company already has plans for new features and functionality. The app will also continue to evolve based on feedback from customers and evolving digital trends.

More information about the mobile app, including how to and helpful tips, is available online at https://www.bcferries.com/app