New ferries from Coal Harbour could generate $1 per rider for City of Vancouver | Daily Hive

New ferries to Bowen Island and Sunshine Coast ferries from Coal Harbour could generate $1 per rider in revenue for City of Vancouver

Potential concept of the new Harbour Green Dock in downtown Vancouver for CIRQL Ferries. (CIRQL Ferries)

Another regulatory hurdle for CIRQL Ferries’ plan to launch a new passenger-only ferry service linking downtown Vancouver with Bowen Island and the Sunshine Coast is expected to be cleared by Vancouver City Council this week.

Since early 2025, both City Council and the Vancouver Park Board have been highly enthusiastic about the plans put forward by CIRQL Ferries, previously known as Greenline Ferries. At the time more than a year ago, both bodies also approved separate member motions providing preliminary support for the proposal, directing City and Park Board staff to work with the private company to help advance its concept — particularly the use of the Harbour Green Dock as the downtown Vancouver terminal.

Earlier this month, Park Board commissioners approved a Park Board staff recommendation endorsing potential modifications or the construction of a brand-new dock at Harbour Green Park on the Coal Harbour waterfront.

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With the Park Board’s support now formally received, City Council is expected this week to endorse granting City staff permission to negotiate a license and operating agreement with CIRQL Ferries for the use of the dock location and other nearby municipal property.

The municipal government will not provide CIRQL Ferries with any capital or operating funding for the design, construction, operations, or maintenance of the service, all of which will be the company’s responsibility. However, the City could provide some in-kind operational support.

In fact, the arrangement is expected to generate revenue for the City. In a report ahead of this week’s public meeting, City staff indicated they are considering a formula based on ridership levels, with a starting revenue rate of about $1.00 per passenger.

CIRQL Ferries previously told Daily Hive Urbanized their fares could have an initial ballpark price range of roughly $20 to $30.

The intention is to reach an initial term agreement of a 10-year lease of the dock site, with potential options for extension. The municipal government expects the company will provide ongoing data reporting, including passenger volumes and operational metrics.

Artistic rendering of CIRQL Ferries’ battery-electric passenger ferry vessel. (CIRQL Ferries/BMT)

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Concept of CIRQL Ferries’ charge barge dock at Gibsons Harbour Landing. (Boniface Oleksiuk Politano Architects/3GA Marine/CIRQL Ferries)

The company plans to use a fleet of 32-metre-long, battery-electric, passenger-only vessels, each accommodating up to 150 seated passengers on a single deck and up to 20 bicycles on an outdoor deck. The top speed of these catamaran vessels is 27 knots (50 km/hr), but without excess noise or vibration, and with minimal wake

During the Park Board’s deliberations earlier this month, commissioners requested that the City allocate 50 per cent of this ongoing revenue to help support Vancouver’s parks and recreation system, and conduct public consultation on the new service.

According to City staff, CIRQL Ferries is targeting a potential service launch in 2028, contingent on timely negotiations of the license and operating agreement, followed by detailed design, permitting, and regulatory review in 2027. The launch will involve construction not only at the Coal Harbour site, but also at Seymour Bay on Bowen Island and Gibsons Harbour Landing on the Sunshine Coast.

As these are battery-electric vessels, the company will construct custom-designed modular charging barge docks at the terminal locations. These will include covered outdoor seating areas for waiting passengers, enclosed electrical rooms for large battery units (connected to BC Hydro infrastructure) to rapidly charge vessels, and small service kiosks for ticket sales or light refreshments.

CIRQL Ferries will either upgrade the existing Harbour Green Dock or build a new one at no cost to the City. Potential plans include a publicly accessible viewing platform, a public dock for short-term recreational moorage, and a private dock for ferry operations. Preliminary renderings of the new dock option show a main accessible gangway from the seawall leading to a circular viewing platform, with additional accessible gangways leading to the public moorage dock and private ferry dock.

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Potential concept of the new Harbour Green Dock in downtown Vancouver for CIRQL Ferries. (CIRQL Ferries)

The existing dock, built in 2003 as a community amenity contribution from a nearby condominium development, has been highly problematic due to design flaws and previos heavy use, requiring frequent repairs by the Park Board. This arrangement offers a zero-cost solution to the municipal government to address these longstanding issues.

City staff noted that the company initially preferred a downtown Vancouver terminal closer to Waterfront Station due to its proximity to the major public transit hub, including the SeaBus terminal. However, this was not feasible in the foreseeable future due to existing agreements with property owners and service operators.

The company estimates the Vancouver-Bowen Island route will take approximately 40 minutes each way, with three round trips daily, while the Vancouver-Gibsons route will take about 70 minutes each way, with four daily round trips.

Updated artistic renderings of the vessels also show a new exterior livery in a primarily black-and-white colour scheme, replacing the green colours previously used under the company’s former Greenline Ferries name.

Planned routes for CIRQL Ferries linking downtown Vancouver with Bowen Island’s Seymour Bay and the Sunshine Coast’s Gibsons Harbour Landing. (CIRQL Ferries)

The existing Harbour Green Dock in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

As the terminus for both routes, the Coal Harbour terminal is expected to see the highest level of vessel and pedestrian traffic, with seven vessel movements per day.

Earlier this year, ahead of the expected future launch of CIRQL Ferries’ service, the Park Board opened the bidding process for seeking a new operator to open a restaurant/cafe business in the vacant restaurant unit previously occupied by Tap & Barrel, located at Harbour Green Park — directly in front of the dock.

Last week, City Council also approved the rezoning application to enable a six-storey, floating hotel with 250 guest rooms, restaurants, bars, and new publicly accessible docks for the water lot directly in front of the West Building of the Vancouver Convention Centre — located between the Hullo Ferries terminal and the iconic blue “The Drop” raindrop sculpture.

Hullo Ferries will mark its third anniversary in August 2026. It reached the milestone of serving its one millionth passenger in September 2025, and has recorded over 1.3 million cumulative passengers as of early April 2026 on more than 8,000 sailings.

The downtown Vancouver terminal for Hullo Ferries’ high-speed, passenger-only ferry service to Nanaimo is situated just north of the West Building of the Vancouver Convention Centre. Hullo Ferries leases space from Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre, where the seaplane marina and terminal is also located.

Hullo Ferries also has eventual plans to launch a second route, linking downtown Vancouver with Greater Victoria.

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Concept for a floating hotel at the Vancouver Convention Centre. (Dialog/Sunborn International Holding)

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Concept for a floating hotel at the Vancouver Convention Centre. (Dialog/Sunborn International Holding)

Concept for a floating hotel at the Vancouver Convention Centre. (Sunborn International Holding)

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