BC Ferries to be penalized for missed sailings due to crew shortages

The provincial government announced today it will be enacting new policies on BC Ferries in a bid to improve the ferry corporation’s service reliability.

There will be new “penalty provisions” moving forward if BC Ferries misses its “core-service sailings” due to insufficient crew.

Few details have been outlined at this time, but the provincial government states it will confirm how those penalties will be applied in Spring 2024.

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Furthermore, the new services contract between the provincial government and BC Ferries re-classifies 1,433 round-trip sailings on 13 minor routes from the previous designation of “discretionary sailings” to “core services.”

“People want to know their sailings will run as scheduled,” said Rob Fleming, BC Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, in a statement.

“While BC Ferries is working hard to secure additional staffing, the provision for penalties is an added measure to hold the company to account for the services it is contracted to provide.”

This follows a particularly challenging year for BC Ferries, with the ferry corporation seeing public backlash over a seemingly growing pattern of missed sailings due to a lack of the minimum labour requirements to perform sailings. Occasionally, travellers have been provided with little notice of a cancellation.

“We’re actively hiring to address our crewing shortages, which will improve staffing resiliency and support reliable service for our customers,” said Nicolas Jimenez, the president and CEO of BC Ferries, in August 2023 for the ferry corporation’s quarterly report.

The provincial government has also indicated that the BC Ferries commissioner has confirmed fare increases of an average of 3.2% over the next four years through 2028.

Over the past few months, BC Ferries has also seen the downtime of major vessels due to mechanical issues. The Coastal Renaissance, in particular, has been out of service since the middle of August.

Currently, BC Ferries operates as a private company, with the provincial government as the whole owner from its sole shareholder. The ferry corporation is governed by its own corporate board of directors. Over the last few years, the provincial government has been implementing measures to bring BC Ferries closer under government control, but short of reverting it to a crown corporation.

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• “How's that possible?“: Frequent BC Ferries traveller is baffled by service
• BC Ferries sees record-breaking volumes for passengers and vehicles