BC Ferries adds extra summer sailings, updates to current conditions as Gibsons mayor calls for change

BC Ferries is planning for a very busy summer, announcing its service plan for the busiest time of the year Wednesday morning.

The ferry service says last year saw a record-breaking nine million passengers sail between May and September, and it’s expecting the same, if not more, this year.

“[Summer is when] we experience our highest demand of the year, and we’re prepared to have all our vessels in operation,” Stephen Jones, BC Ferries vice president of engineering, said.

“This summer, we’re expecting similar or greater demand, and especially given the volumes we’ve already seen in recent weeks, with more Canadians taking their vacations locally, it’s going to be busy. We saw record-breaking passengers on the Easter weekend, and carried 7,000 more passengers this Easter weekend than we did last year, and that’s with one large vessel less in operation,” Jones explained.

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BC Ferries has added 1,000 extra sailings across its high-demand routes, such as the ones between Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island, for the summer.

With an aging fleet, Jones explained the ferry service has undertaken major repairs to its vessels to get ready for the summer season.

“Every vessel we have, all 37 of them, has been prepped for summer. Since September 2024, we’ve carried out at least 21 major projects, mostly refits and some unplanned repairs. We’re spending an average of about $75 million a year on refits, much of that work done in local shipyards, and that figure is expected to grow as major vessels continue to age.

“Take the Queen of New Westminster, we recently replaced both propeller shafts and overhauled that vessel. But at the end of the day, it’s a 60-year-old vessel that will be operating 18 hours a day throughout summer,” Jones said.

Even with strong planning, there will be times when service will be affected.

“We are working with aging vessels and terminal infrastructure, and this means that we have to plan for worst-case scenarios to protect service. And whilst we can’t eliminate all risks, we are working hard behind the scenes to keep people and goods moving,” Jones said.

“Just this Monday, we had an issue with a berth apron at Tsawwassen. In fact, there’s a crane working on it right now. We were able to shift to other berths, but it’s more difficult to deal with this kind of issue in peak season,” he explained.

BC Ferries is also updating its current conditions platform to give travellers more accurate, real-time information.

“Some of the tools we have available for customers now are our current conditions platform in a new test format, which we think is more intuitive and easier to follow, live webcams, vessel trackers, and service notice alerts that customers can sign up for to keep them apprised of what to expect,” Lindsay Matthew, vice president of public affairs, said.

Matthews says the ferry corporation is aware of the frustrations regarding the vehicle deck space on its booking system, and BC Ferries is working to update that feature.

“Some sailings can show full, but space may still be available depending on things like the number of no-shows or people who don’t show up for the reservation, or the mix and size of the vehicles that do show up,” she explained.

“Customer experience is a priority. We’re making these improvements to things like the current condition site, while we actively work on more significant upgrades to eventually get to the place where we really need to be for our customers, which are things like customer notification tools, like SMS messaging,” she explained. “These things are in progress, but we’re not there yet.”

But as BC Ferries announced its plans Wednesday, one ferry-reliant community says chronic disruptions and delays need to be addressed immediately.

Gibsons Mayor Silas White says the town has been trying to get the ferry corporation to talk about it for months. White tells 1130 NewsRadio that they only found out about Wednesday’s announcement for summer plans through the media.

“We’ve been trying to engage with BC Ferries since January, about the summer schedule,” White explained.

He says it’s an example of why communities like Gibsons are so dissatisfied with the communication they get from BC Ferries.

White says they hope the summer schedule for Langdale will again include a second vessel and hourly service, but these are now needed outside of the summer travel period, as well.

“Ferries have been chronically late ever since the Easter weekend, and it’s causing a lot of disruption in our community when people don’t have reliable ferry service,” he explained.

He says the schedule outside summer is often chaotic, overloaded, and late, and not set up well to serve residents of the Sunshine Coast.

“If we’re going to assume the boats work, we’ve been wanting to have a conversation about starting the summer schedule early, which we desperately need on the Sunshine Coast. And we’ve been suffering through the decision not to do that,” White said.

“The shoulder seasons, prior to the summer schedule and after the summer schedule, really need to be addressed, and we need a second boat,” he added.

BC Ferries is set to unveil its summer plan around 10 a.m. Wednesday. You can watch CityNews 24/7 live or listen live to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver to keep up to date with this story. You can also subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.

With files from Maria Vinca.