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Click on your community's name below to discover what is happening with BC Ferries on your route, and when we will be in your community next.

B.C. Ferry Authority & British Columbia Ferry Services Inc.

The Boards of Directors of the B.C. Ferry Authority and British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. invite our customers, stakeholders and interested parties to the Annual General Meeting of B.C. Ferry Authority and the Annual Public Meeting of British Columbia Ferry Services Inc.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, August 24, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. at the Grand Pacific Hotel, 463 Belleville Street, Victoria, B.C. We will be broadcasting the meeting online to provide an opportunity for interested parties to join the meeting virtually. Virtual and in-person participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and comments.

To join virtually, RSVP to agm@bcferries.com to receive the meeting link information.

Klemtu is a tiny community on a remote island more than 800 km northwest of Vancouver and, for years, its roughly 400 residents could count on two things to be as regular as the rain that falls there: the weekly arrival, by ferry, of an empty refrigerated trailer, later to be returned full of locally farmed fish for processing; and the somewhat less regular arrival of a truck stocked with fresh food and groceries.

While the former supported an important source of employment and income for members of the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation, the timing and frequency of the latter meant residents had limited access to fresh produce for most of each month.

That changed last year thanks to a unique partnership between the Kitasoo Xai’xais, BC Ferries, the transport company Aquatrans Distributors Inc. and Mowi Canada West, with which Kitasoo Seafoods works to produce salmon products... Read More.

BC Day long weekend is one of the most popular times of the year for travel on the coast. This year, from Thursday to Tuesday, we expect to welcome over 580,000 passengers and 210,000 vehicles on board. We expect to have every vessel in service, running at full capacity. Each day this BC Day long weekend, almost 1,800 team members will be on board our ships and in our terminals helping customers get to their destinations, as well as licensed officers on standby and more than 100 Customer Care call centre staff to assist customers.

BC Ferries is introducing a virtual waiting room for online bookings that will help our website perform at its best when an extremely high number of customers are making bookings on the website and app. Customers will be placed in a first-in, first-out waiting room only when website traffic volumes are above normal. This will allow for a seamless customer experience, with displayed wait times that will help us deliver on our busiest days.

In addition, we’ve worked with our traffic control and parking management partners at the larger terminals to ensure they have the required number of parking attendants needed to triage inbound traffic and ensure better onsite support in our parking lots. There will also be enhanced customer experience features at our larger terminals, including hydration stations, misting stations, family activities (such as face painting) as well as performances by talented local artists throughout the weekend.

BC Day Long Weekend Travel Tips:

• Travel off peak or walk on board – Customers driving on board without a booking may experience sailing waits during peak travel times. Consider travel as a foot passenger or during less busy times of the day to avoid sailing waits. Foot passenger bookings are available on most sailings between the Mainland and Vancouver Island this long weekend. Vehicle deck space fills up quickly. If your plans are flexible, consider carpooling or take public transit.
• Parking – Parking lots fill up quickly on long weekends. Public transit, ride-sharing or drop-offs are good options if they work for you. For schedule information visit TransLink, BC Transit or BC Ferries Connector Service.
• Arrive Early - Customers with bookings should plan to arrive at the terminal 45-60 minutes before their sailing. Have your booking number ready at the ticket booth and tap to pay for a quick check in.
• Car Alarms - Please consider disarming your car alarm for the benefit of other passengers, their pets and our crew. Check your owner’s manual for instructions on how to do so.
• Assured Loading Tickets (ALT) and Experience™ Card– To avoid delays at the terminal, load your ALT and Experience™ Card in advance of travel on bcferries.com
• Prepare for warm weather – pack sun protection and water for you and your pets. Tents and misting stations are in place for customers to cool down at major terminals, as well as many minor staffed terminals. Vessels and staffed terminals have AC and refillable water stations.

Thank you to our staff and crew who continue to be the heart of BC Ferries. Their hard work and dedication is what keeps BC’s coast safe and moving.

We look forward to welcoming you on board this BC Day Long Weekend.

Hay and straw are classified as Dangerous Goods when transported on a vessel

Travelling with hay/straw:

• You must travel with a Dangerous Goods Shipping Document regardless of weight.
• Hay/straw must be secured in a closed vehicle or completely tarped to prevent random ignition
• Apply ‘Flammable Solids’ Dangerous Goods Class 4.1 placard (UN 1327) on four sides of any vehicle transporting more than 500kg (1100 lbs.) of hay
• Wet, damp, or contaminated hay cannot be transported
• Dangerous goods regulations do not apply to unbaled or loose hay used for feed during transport or as bedding for livestock

For more information on travelling with dangerous goods, click here.

Mayne Island, June 6, 2023 - The Mayne Island Assisted Living Society (MIALS) is thrilled to announce the launch of an exciting new pilot project in collaboration with BC Ferries. The initiative aims to provide Mayne Islanders with improved public transit options by chartering the Mayne Island Community Bus for weekly trips to Sidney and Victoria every Tuesday.

As an organization committed to enhancing the well-being and quality of life for our community members, MIALS recognizes the pressing need for reliable and accessible transportation services. Through this pilot project, we aim to demonstrate the viability and interest of Mayne Islanders in having better public transit options, while also addressing key issues such as affordability, climate change mitigation, and community connectivity. Read more...

British Columbians who must travel for medical reasons by ferry will now have their $18 booking fee (reservation) waived each way to help ensure they get to, and home from, medical specialist appointments not available in their own communities.

The new service is available on bookable routes for those who qualify for the provincial government’s Travel Assistance Program (TAP), which covers transportation costs for eligible B.C. residents who must travel within the province for non-emergency medical services not available in their own communities.

To secure a complimentary booking with BC Ferries for medical travel, customers must obtain a TAP form from their physician, nurse practitioner, or specialty clinic and obtain a TAP confirmation number from Health Insurance BC. Travelling with a confirmed booking helps to provide travel certainty by reserving a spot in advance and avoiding wait times at the terminal.

“We understand that travelling while unwell, or to treatments and surgeries, can be stressful,” said Janet Carson, Vice President, Marketing and Customer Experience. “Removing the booking fee is our way of helping with travel certainty while removing the financial burden when travelling to and from doctors’ offices, clinics or hospital.”

Customers can continue to use a Medical Assured Loading (MAL) letter on all routes, except those that are fully bookable. MAL is only available for those travelling under the TAP and who have a MAL letter from their medical practitioner that states that it is necessary for them to avoid a wait at the ferry terminal. Customers must present a completed TAP form along with a MAL letter to a ticket agent or a vessel crewmember to get priority boarding... read more

Ferry passengers travelling on Earth Day this Saturday, April 22 may not realize it, but their trips along the British Columbia coast carry a variety of examples of BC Ferries’ efforts to reduce its environmental footprint.

Many examples can be found in what are likely the favourite spots of many passengers: Coastal Cafes and lounges, where BC Ferries has taken steps to decrease its dependence on single-use plastics (SUPs).

The company has been proactively working for a number of years to remove as much plastic as possible from its food service operations, says David Jorgensen, BC Ferries’ Manager, Food and Beverage. Among the many measures, he says, BC Ferries has:

• removed plastic wrap from some food delivery carts;
• removed plastic straws from service;
• switched its disposable plastic cutlery to disposable wood cutlery; and
• ensured packaging items comply with federal Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations that came into effect in December 2022 (under these regulations, the manufacture and import for sale in Canada of checkout bags, cutlery, food service ware, stir sticks and straws are prohibited).

Some of these measures may not seem significant but Renée McDonald, BC Ferries’ Environment Advisor, Safety, Health and Environment, notes that if 10 percent of customers per month used wooden cutlery instead of those made of SUPs, more than 100,000 pieces of plastic cutlery are kept out of the landfill.

“Phasing out single-use plastics and transitioning to alternate or reusable products will really help decrease our waste footprint,” McDonald says. “We are reducing the amount of material that may be sent either to the landfill or to recycling, and more products could potentially be sent to compost instead.”

Jorgensen also notes that BC Ferries food services primarily uses stainless steel cutlery and china plates and cups that are washable and reusable, avoiding the need for SUPs.

That’s not all the company is doing to reduce the amount of landfill waste and recycling it produces. Jorgensen says food services constantly look for opportunities to avoid waste by tailoring recipes so they meet portion requirements; temporarily removing select items from the menu on certain routes at specific times of year (for example, soft-serve during winter months); and carefully ordering supplies to avoid spoilage – the warehouse teams do a great job with this difficult task.

All of these are part of a company-wide approach that acknowledges climate change and its myriad effects, and takes steps to improve its operations. McDonald says BC Ferries is actively engaged with the following initiatives:

• Minimizing lighting load on docked ferries after certain hours in the evening;
• Connecting to shore power and shutting down diesel generators when vessels are in layup;
• Exploring the transition to zero-emission (battery electric) light-duty fleet vehicles and;
• Using lower emission renewable and alternate fuels such as natural gas, renewable diesel, biodiesel, and electricity.

As well, BC Ferries announced last year as part of its Clean Futures Plan that it is committed to reducing its GHG emissions by at least 27 percent below its 2008 level by 2030.

Such action is nothing new for BC Ferries, which in 2014 joined Green Marine, a voluntary environmental certification program for the North American marine transportation industry that aims to reduce the environmental footprint of marine operators by going beyond regulatory standards.

The company’s efforts have been honoured with a Blue Circle Award in 2022 from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (recognizing industry partners that excel in environmental stewardship and attain the highest level of participation in the authority’s EcoAction Program and Energy Action initiative); and, 2022 Green Wave Awards from the Prince Rupert Port Authority (acknowledging outstanding participation in the Green Wave environmental incentive program).

Read more about BC Ferries’ environmental initiatives and its Clean Futures Plan. Read more about Earth Day 2023 around the world.

Crew of the Baynes Sound Connector were asked by Coast Guard around 6:40pm Tuesday, March 1, 2023 to respond to a vessel in distress near Fanny Bay. We were informed the vessel was a 30-foot sailboat and that there was one person in the water. Thanks to the quick action of our crew, our rescue boat was launched and they arrived to the scene quickly and pulled the person from the water. The person was then brought to shore where emergency services were standing by.

BC Ferries is involved in marine rescues from time to time and our crews are highly trained to respond in the event of a marine emergency, and we thank them for their quick actions. We also thank our customers for their patience and understanding as we handled the situation.

To fine our more on the stories, click on the links below:

• Vancouver Island News
• Times Colonist

Families on the move this Family Day long weekend can count on the Riaboshapchenko family to get them where they need to go.

Our staff and crew are the heart of BC Ferries. Thank you for safely connecting us with the people and places that matter most.

Read the full story about the Riaboshapchenko family here: A family affair

For information on careers at BC Ferries, visit bcferries.com/careers.