Denman Island Community Page

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.

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.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our engagement sessions and online over the past several weeks. We heard from:

• 170 people at our round table conversations on Denman Island
• 90 people at our round table conversations on Hornby Island
• 399 people through our online engagement

Our online engagement is now closed and our third-party facilitators are busy compiling all the feedback we’ve received into a comprehensive report. You can expect to see it in a few weeks’ time.

The team has already started to review the feedback, and while we explore longer-term changes, we’re working on some immediate changes in response to what we’ve heard, including:

Supporting safe travel on Denman

In the coming weeks, you will begin to see messaging on our digital signs at the Buckley Bay and Hornby Island terminals, in BC Ferries’ social media feeds, and in the travel tips and advisories we issue for routes 21 and 22 asking all our customers to please drive safely and respectfully while on Denman Island. This is just one way BC Ferries can support safe travel on Denman, and we are exploring other opportunities to work with partners and stakeholders in the longer term.

Getting ready for the busy summer season

We clearly heard about the challenges of peak summer season for Denman and Hornby travellers. Here’s what we’re doing this season:

• We have enhanced sailing schedules with two-ship service on Route 21 Monday-Friday, and have placed the Quinitsa on Route 22. During the round-table conversations you asked us look at the Monday to Friday schedule for two-ship service, more on that below.
  
  
• We have doubled the support staff available at terminals this summer season to improve traffic management. We need to ensure our staff are safe and in compliance with WorkSafe BC regulations, so traffic control off of BC Ferries’ property will occur only during daylight hours and from the shoulder of the road/passenger side of the vehicle as much as possible.
  
  
• We will not shuttle between Hornby and Denman when there is only one ship sailing between Denman and Buckley Bay. This is to help prevent major back-ups at the Denman West terminal.
  
  

Planning our next conversations with you

Denman East terminal project. We will be back later this year to discuss options for the Denman East terminal design. We will look at these options together and discuss the benefits and tradeoffs involved with different terminal layouts, including how designs will impact the environment and terminal safety. You can expect to hear more detail about these sessions later this summer.

Hornby Island terminal project. We are looking ahead to upgrades at the Hornby Island terminal and would like to walk the site with community members as a starting point for this work. We will be using the Terminal Development Plan that was created for the Hornby Island terminal as an initial guide, however we need to better understand how these plans fit with current community needs. The site visits at the terminal will bring us together to discuss plans and how to adjust them to mitigate impacts and preserve community character in the work we do. You can expect to hear more about this work in the fall.

Answering your top-of-mind questions

Once again, we thank everyone who has taken the time to participate. The changes above are initial steps, and there is more work to be done. We look forward to being back out with the Denman and Hornby Island communities this fall to continue our conversations.

We wanted to let the community know of a remediation project they will see happening at the Denman East terminal in the coming weeks. This work is unrelated to the terminal upgrades and will not involve the removal of trees at any point.

We need to remediate 70 metres of shoreline at the terminal to keep our structures safe. Work is expected to begin mid-July and continue through to mid-August. You’ll see big rocks (called rip rap) being placed along the west side of the terminal. Work is focused only on our current shoreline structure.

There will not be any operational impact or any changes to traffic patterns while our contractor works. Work will be completed during the day and in accordance with the regulations and bylaws of the Islands Trust and Comox Valley Regional District. The use of equipment means there will be some additional noise during the day, and we will do everything we can to minimize impact to our nearby neighbours.

If you have any questions about the project, please email us at engagement@bcferries.com.

UPDATE: Thank you to all those taking the time to respond to the survey, we have already received over 90 responses to date!

We have recently been made aware that some participants are receiving an error message when attempting to complete the survey. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate the frustration this has caused. We have addressed the issues and participants should no longer be required to enter email addresses. We have also removed a link we believe was leading participants away from the survey before they were able to complete it. We will continue to monitor to ensure everyone has the opportunity to provide their comments and feedback and we have extended the survey until June 16 to provide additional time for community members to give their feedback.

If you continue to receive an error and cannot complete the survey, or you would prefer to leave your feedback via email, please reach out to us at engagement@bcferries.com

Note: While logging in is not required, if you would like to do so to complete the survey, you will need to create a login profile for this engagement portal (bcferriesprojects.ca), which will be different than your bcferries.com login.

BC Ferries is working to improve ferry service for residents of Denman Island and Hornby Island. As part of this work, we want to hear your thoughts, concerns and aspirations for two key initiatives: the Denman Island East Terminal Project and enhanced summer service on Routes 21 and 22.

Visit the project page to participate in online engagement and share your thoughts: https://www.bcferriesprojects.ca/denman-east-terminal

Thank you to everyone who attended our round table conversations on May 26 and 27^th.

Eighteen BC Ferries staff and two professional facilitators were joined by 170 people on Denman Island and 90 people on Hornby Island to have open dialogue on the Denman East terminal project, summer schedules, and other topics of importance to the community.

Participate online

We continue to listen through our online engagement, which is open until June 16^th for those who were not able to attend the sessions, or those who wish to contribute additional feedback. Share your thoughts here: https://www.bcferriesprojects.ca/denman-east-terminal/survey_tools/denman-hornby-feedback

What we heard

We are grateful for the input we received. A detailed ‘what we heard report’ will be coming, but some of the key themes we heard were:

From Denman Island:

• The impact of Hornby Island-bound traffic on safety and quality of life for Denman Island residents, e.g. speeding, road safety, environmental impact
• The desire for a direct Buckley Bay – Hornby Island route
• The importance of taking a full-system view, including the potential to make changes at Buckley Bay to mitigate the traffic concerns created by Hornby-bound traffic, e.g. allowing only one Hornby Island sailing of traffic onto Denman Island at a time
• The desire to retain as many trees as possible and the rural feel of the Denman East terminal
• The desire to be re-engaged on plans for the Denman East terminal

From Hornby Island:

• The importance of travel certainty for residents, and the desire for priority for medical travel and school children
• The desire for Hornby residents to have equal shared deck space with Denman residents on the sailings between Denman Island and Buckley Bay
• The desire to proceed with the Denman East terminal project
• Requests for clarity on operational procedures, e.g. loading/unloading procedures, livestock policies etc.
• Requests to reassess the Monday-Friday two-ship schedule from Buckley Bay – Denman Island, and realign sailings to include weekends

Our next steps

Using the feedback we heard through our sessions and online, we will prepare a ‘what we heard’ report for publication to communities this summer.

Our teams are already busy discussing how we can respond to what we heard. We will be back to the communities later this summer/early fall with our next steps. This will include an update on our plans for further engagement on the Denman East terminal project for both Denman and Hornby Island communities.

Once again, thank you to everyone who attended the sessions. And thank you for hosting us in your community halls. We greatly appreciate the use of these amazing community spaces and we look forward to continuing our work with you in the near future.

BC Ferries is working to improve ferry service for residents of Denman Island and Hornby Island. As part of this work, we want to hear your thoughts, concerns and aspirations for two key initiatives: the Denman Island East Terminal Project and enhanced summer service on Routes 21 and 22.

Visit the project page to participate in online engagement and share your thoughts: https://www.bcferriesprojects.ca/denman-east-terminal

The review of the Baynes Sound Connector is now available in its entirety. View it here.

Report Summary

Our four-year plan submitted to the BC Ferry Commissioner on September 30, 2022 included a proposed expansion and repowering of the Baynes Sound Connected in 2026. The bigger ship was proposed to move additional traffic and better support a higher capacity vessel on Route 22, the connection between Denman and Hornby Islands.

Since submitting the report, we have completed a review of vessel operations to date and assessed alternative ways to accommodate future demand. The review considered multiple options including replacing the Baynes Sound Connector with a conventional ferry.

Upon review, it was decided to accelerate upgrades to the vessel machinery and hull coatings while deferring the proposed expansion of the vessel. Instead, we will be deploying the Kahloke alongside the Baynes Sound Connector this summer and bringing the Quinitsa into service on Route 22.

Starting June 22, the Kahloke and Baynes Sound Connector will operate together Monday to Friday on Route 21. This service is scheduled through to September 4. In addition, the Quinitsa, which began service earlier this week between Denman and Hornby Islands, will continue on the route into December.

This fall we’ll review how the summer went and collect feedback from customers and crew to inform a final decision on the proposed expansion of the Baynes Sound Connector.

In the link above, and in the sidebar on this page, you will find the report comparing the options that supported our decision. This report has been shared with the BC Ferry Commissioner, the BC Ferry Authority, and our operations board.

We are hosting two large community events next week (May 26^th and 27^th) to discuss medium-term plans for the Baynes Sound Connector, evaluation criteria for summer service and safety-related upgrades at the Denman East terminal. You can learn more about the sessions here.