FAQs

We remain committed to providing safe, reliable, and efficient ferry service for Salt Spring Island and Vancouver Island.  

The Crofton-Vesuvius upgrade project has been adjusted to focus on life-extending the existing berths instead of full rebuilds, ensuring fiscal responsibility while making critical infrastructure improvements to support service enhancements. Construction is expected to begin mid-2026 and be completed by early 2027.  

Introducing two Island Class vessels will increase capacity by 20% and improve sailing frequency, helping meet growing travel demand. A new layby berth will be built at Crofton terminal to accommodate two vessels and improve operational flexibility.  

Once complete, the two-ship service is expected to improve traffic flow in the surrounding neighbourhoods, reduce congestion at terminals, and enhance the overall travel experience.  

No extended terminal closures are required, ensuring continuous ferry service during construction.  

We will continue to collaborate and engage with interested and impacted groups to ensure impacts to neighbourhoods are minimized as much as possible, while maintaining safe and reliable ferry service.

Initial plans for upland roadwork and terminal access improvements were deferred, but we continue to engage with partners to explore parking and traffic solutions that balance community needs and ferry operations. 

We recognize community concerns about traffic congestion near terminals. Responsibility for the surrounding roads is often shared among multiple parties, including BC Ferries as a key operational partner, along with the Ministry of Transportation and Transit, and local governments.

When the two Island Class vessels go into service by 2027, both will be homeported in Crofton to improve crew recruitment and retention. Currently, the one vessel on the route is homeported on Salt Spring Island.  

This change will help address long-standing staffing issues on Salt Spring Island, where hiring and retention have been challenging, in part due to housing availability and affordability. Vancouver Island offers a larger recruitment pool and greater housing availability, making it easier to attract and retain crew. The stability in staffing will, in turn, improve overall service reliability for customers.

There will be no lost employment opportunity for existing crew members during the homeporting transition and all affected crew will have opportunities to transition to new roles, if desired.  

We recognize the impact moving the home port may have on employees living on Salt Spring, and on the island community. All existing crew on Salt Spring will have job opportunities, and additional positions were posted in spring 2025, providing time for staff hiring and transitions by 2027 when new vessels are in place. 

Some employees have already accepted jobs where they’ll commute to Crofton to start their day. Employees who live on Salt Spring Island who choose not to relocate with the vessel will have the option to transition to staffing pool relief positions on Salt Spring.  

We are working closely with employees and the union to ensure a smooth transition. The BC Ferry & Marine Workers Union was invited to begin collaborating on discussions relating to homeporting in July 2024. Employees on Salt Spring Island were informed about the homeporting change in April 2025. 

While numbers are still being confirmed, we expect to hire more than 60 positions to meet vessel and terminal needs with two-vessel service on the route.

Emergency response will not be compromised. While BC Ferries is not the lead agency in emergency planning (that responsibility sits with the Province), we are a key part of the response system, and we work closely with agencies like Emergency Management and Climate Readiness and the Ministry of Transportation and Transit.  

In the event of a major evacuation, there are two other terminals on Salt Spring that can be used. Vesuvius is 25 minutes from Crofton, so we can reposition vessels quickly if needed.  

Salt Spring has its own hospital, which reduces the need for off-island medical transfers.

Salt Spring Island is unique in that it has two additional terminals available for emergencies, which Gabriola does not. Salt Spring also has a hospital. The decision to have one vessel homeported on either side on the Nanaimo-Gabriola route was because it is the only route for that island, and therefore we needed to provide emergency services support, as Gabriola also does not have a hospital.   

Operationally, homeporting both vessels in Crofton allows us to use a consistent crewing model we’ve adopted across other Island Class routes. It keeps scheduling streamlined, improves service reliability, and helps us use our crews and vessels efficiently. 

On our Campbell River-Quadra Island route, crew travel from Campbell River on one vessel to work on the 12-hour vessel – the same scenario planned on the Crofton-Vesuvius route.

No extended terminal closures are required during the upgrades, ensuring continuous ferry service throughout the construction period.  

Once complete, no service reductions are anticipated as part of the homeporting change. We are reviewing schedule optimizations to ensure the new two-ship service meets passenger demand while maintaining convenience for Salt Spring Island residents and travelers. 

Schedules are currently being developed and are anticipated to be ready in late 2026 or early 2027. The planning underway includes balancing the needs for crewing, operational needs, budgets, and passenger demand.

The Island Gwawis and Island K’ulut’a will be repositioned to the Crofton-Vesuvius route from the Nanaimo Harbour-Gabriola Island and Quadra-Cortez Island routes.  

The Quinsam will remain in the fleet and be used to supplement other routes as needed.