New Coal Harbour dock eyed for passenger ferries to Bowen Island, Sunshine Coast | Daily Hive

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

The long-troubled Harbour Green Dock on the Coal Harbour waterfront could be completely replaced with a brand-new purpose-built dock that is structurally designed to be more resilient than the existing dock, and to handle a new major passenger-only ferry service linking downtown Vancouver with Bowen Island and the Sunshine Coast.

Tonight, Vancouver Park Board commissioners are expected to approve Park Board staff’s recommendation to endorse the potential dock changes to support the new service operated by CIRQL Ferries, formerly known as Greenline Ferries.

This builds on the separate member motions approved by the Park Board commissioners and Vancouver City Council in early 2025, which provided the proposal with preliminary support and directed Park Board and City of Vancouver staff to work with CIRQL Ferries to further define their potential use of the dock at Harbour Green Park — located just west of the Coal Harbour seaplane terminal and Hullo Ferries terminal.

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The Park Board’s second endorsement at this juncture would then allow City of Vancouver staff to begin formal negotiations with CIRQL Ferries on a long-term agreement, expected to run for an initial term of about 10 years with potential extensions. The dock project would then move into detailed design, regulatory approvals, and further public consultation.

The existing dock was originally built in 2003 as a community amenity contribution by a developer building a major Coal Harbour condominium tower complex, but it has faced persistent maintenance issues, including structural instability and repeated closures in recent years — partly due to improper use by larger vessels in the past.

It was closed for an extended period between 2018 and 2023, with the Park Board later cancelling its previous plan to completely remove the floating dock structure and place it in storage. It has required major repairs over the years, with additional damage in 2024 and 2025 necessitating more periodic closures.

According to Park Board staff, the dock project could be a partial reuse of the existing structure or a complete replacement, with the latter option now depicted in highly preliminary conceptual artistic renderings.

A possible new configuration for the dock could entail a single gangway reaching a publicly accessible central viewing platform structure that leads to the CIRQL Ferries dock and a separate short-term public mooring dock for recreational boats. The ferry dock would be an exclusive area.

Existing dock condition:

Existing configuration of Harbour Green Park. (Google Maps)

Existing condition: The dock at Harbour Green Park in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

Potential future dock condition:

cirql ferries coal harbour green dock downtown vancouver

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

As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized, CIRQL Ferries is using a fleet of zero-emission, battery-electric vessels. The company has already designed a modular charging barge dock concept that provides a covered outdoor seating space for waiting passengers, an enclosed electrical house area for large battery units (linked to BC Hydro infrastructure) to rapidly charge the vessels, and a small service kiosk for ticket sales or light refreshments. This charging barge dock would also be installed at the Bowen Island and Sunshine Coast terminal locations.

CIRQL Ferries’ capital costs for such facilities not only entail the new and modified dock structures, but also the electrical connections required to link up the charging infrastructure with BC Hydro infrastructure.

Park Board staff state that this partnership with CIRQL Ferries is an opportunity to renew the problematic dock infrastructure at no cost to the municipal government, with the new privately owned and operated ferry startup covering all of the costs of building the new and improved facilities and required related infrastructure. This eliminates the need for ongoing public expenditures on operating and repairing the aging dock with technical design flaws.

As well, as a part of the to-be-determined contractual agreement, CIRQL Ferries would provide the municipal government with additional ongoing annual revenue based on its passenger ridership volumes.

“The specific configuration of the dock, including the extent of reuse or replacement of existing infrastructure, will be further refined through detailed design as the project progresses,” reads Park Board staff’s report.

“The proposed replacement of Harbour Green dock with an electric passenger ferry service facility represents an opportunity to enhance regional connectivity while supporting low-emission transportation, improved public access and renewed recreational boat moorage on the waterfront via investment from the proponent. Preliminary technical review indicates that a reconfigured and renewed Harbour Green Dock can accommodate the proposed services.”

greenline ferries charge barge dock gibsons

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

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

CIRQL Ferries’ next-generation, 32-metre-long, battery-powered catamaran vessels would accommodate up to 150 seated passengers on a single passenger deck and up to 20 bicycles on an outdoor deck.

Two routes are planned from the Harbour Green Dock: one to Seymour Bay on Bowen Island, and the other to Gibsons Harbour Landing on the Sunshine Coast. The Vancouver-Bowen Island route would take approximately 40 minutes each way, with three round trips per day, while the Vancouver-Gibsons route would take about 70 minutes each way, with four round trips per day.

CIRQL Ferries previously indicated it could launch its service as early as 2027, if all goes as planned.

It would build on the proven privately operated passenger ferry success of Hullo Ferries’ high-speed passenger ferry service to Nanaimo.

Hullo Ferries will mark its third anniversary this August. 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.

Earlier this year, ahead of the expected 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.

This week, City Council will also consider 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.

Concept design of the battery-electric vessel for CIRQL Ferries. (BMT/CIRQL Ferries)

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