Cortes Island Community Page

We are excited to be moving closer to welcoming an Island Class Vessel in 2027 and providing increased capacity for Cortes Islanders and those travelling the route.

In preparation for introducing the larger vessel to the route and to replace aging infrastructure, berth replacements are required for Whaletown and Heriot Bay. This will mean full berth closures and alternate service for the route from January to mid-March, 2026. With work planned to begin in the fall of 2025, engagements with the community have begun early to help shape plans for the alternate service that will be required during the berth closure.

An in-person Open House was held on Cortes Island on April 27, 2024, alongside a three-week online engagement opportunity. Members of the public were invited to attend and provide their input on alternate service plans and ideas to help mitigate impacts on ferry users. The 'what we heard' report from this early engagement period is now available. Click here to read the report.

To stay up to date, you can subscribe to receive proactive updates via email by visiting the terminal projects page and clicking 'Subscribe' on the right hand side of the page.

We've gathered a list of what we’ve heard as priorities from your Ferry Advisory Committee and community over the past two years. Now we need your help to:

• Review the list of feedback we’ve received from your community
• Prioritize the feedback we can action

Your feedback will be used by the Community Prioritization Panel (CPP) - a panel comprised of Ferry Advisory Committee Chairs from across the coast - to create a prioritized list of recommendations for the whole BC Ferries system.

The survey will be open until Monday, July 29, 2024.

Check back on this page for updates on the process and what we heard from your community.

On Saturday, July 13th, we hosted the Campbell River-Quadra-Cortes community workshop to gather feedback on the priorities for our ferry services. Participants included members from the Ferry Advisory Committee and the broader community. The discussion was lively and informative, and several key priorities were highlighted as areas of focus.

The highest-ranking priorities of the workshop were:

Vehicle Loading for Cortes Residents

Participants emphasized the need for a tagging or numbering system to identify vehicles travelling to Cortes. Additionally, a request to reintroduce a dedicated lane for Cortes travelers to streamline the loading process was made.

Line-up Management at Heriot Bay and Quathiaski Cove

Safety was the main theme, with participants stressing the importance of getting cars off the road and making sufficient parking available to improve safety and traffic flow.

Washrooms at Campbell River Terminal

The current washroom facilities present accessibility challenges, particularly for seniors and people with disabilities. One participant noted, "My dad can't use the outhouse with his walker."

Vehicle Staging at Campbell River Terminal During Cancellations

Participants highlighted safety concerns when cars are backed up onto the highway during cancellations. This priority was deemed important to address the potential hazards.

Schedule Adjustments

Another high-ranking priority was the return of the 8:30 p.m. sailing from Campbell River. Although the current summer schedule partially addresses this priority, participants expressed a desire to maintain it and introduce earlier sailings. This would benefit hospital workers with shifts ending at 7 p.m. and youth involved in sports and school activities, allowing them to arrive home at a more reasonable hour.

Thank you!

We would like to thank everyone who came out to our in person workshop, and the members of the Ferry Advisory Committee who joined us. If you were not able to make it, there is still an opportunity to provide your feedback through the online engagement open now until Monday, July 29, 2024.

Join us! For an Interactive Community Workshop
Saturday, July 13, 2024
12:30 - 2:00 pm
Quadra Island

Please note that space is limited to 50 people. Please RSVP to reserve your spot and receive full event details!

Agenda

• Introduction & presentation: 20 minutes
• Reviewing the feedback we’ve heard from you (interactive stations): 35 minutes
• Prioritizing the feedback we’ve heard from you (interactive stations): 30 minutes
• Wrap-up & close: 5 minutes

Session Format

This community workshop will begin with a short presentation, followed by two interactive sessions that ask participants to help us:

1. Ensure the feedback we have captured from the Ferry Advisory Committee and community is complete and accurate
2. Prioritize the feedback we’ve captured based on what is most important to the community

Participants will also walk away with a better understanding of:

• How BC Ferries makes decisions
• The aspects of ferry service that are rising to the top as most important for their community
• The next steps for considering and taking action on the feedback provided
• How to stay involved and connected in the next steps

To get the most from the session, participants are encouraged to stay for the entire workshop, but are most welcome to drop in and stay as long as they wish. We understand life is busy and time is precious. Please note that travel vouchers will be provided to those taking a ferry to attend the event.

There will an online engagement component hosted on this page that mirrors the workshop input, for those who are not able to attend.

To stay connected, please click the ‘Stay Informed’ icon at the right hand side of the page, or continue to check this page.

We look forward to meeting you.

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.