BC Ferries has yet to schedule meeting with FAC about 2026 shutdown

Derek Kilbourn

Sounder News

Susan Yates, who represents the Islands Trust on the Gabriola Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC) says the FAC is, “begging BC Ferries to meet with [the Gabriola FAC] as soon as possible, to talk about mitigating measures that will be in place when they do the shutdown in the spring of 2026.”

No updates have been issued by BC Ferries since it was announced this past spring the company would be closing both terminals on the Gabriola route in 2026 for upgrades to those terminals.

The information provided at the time was that both terminals would be closed and there is no alternative terminal available to use on Gabriola.

This means foot passengers will be transported by water taxi, and a barge will be utilized for for commercial traffic. No other vehicle traffic will be able to be transported between Gabriola and Nanaimo.

The shutdown is expected in spring of 2026, and BC Ferries last said it would be six to eight weeks in length.

Trustee Yates, reporting at the November Local Trust Committee (LTC) meeting, said it’s not for lack of perseverance on the part of FAC co-Chairs Heather O’Sullivan and Steve Earle asking for that meeting.

Yates said the response from BC Ferries has been to look at what is happening with terminals on Cortez and Quadra islands. She said, “I’ve been on Cortez  and Quadra, they don’t know what’s happening either. So that’s not helpful.”

She added, “we did get the financial report for the 26 routes that BC Ferries has.”

Yates reported there were seven routes that made a profit – the ones that have lots of tourism – and there are 19 which have negative revenue, which are the coastal community routes. She said, “it’s quite shocking to see, because at one time the Gabriola Route 19 actually made a profit around $580,000, and then, when we got the new ferries. boom, we went $10 million into the hole, and last year we were only $9 million.”

BC Ferries had previously stated to the Sounder that there have been route shutdowns for terminal work in the past, to accommodate necessary construction work or rebuild projects.

When asked what routes those closures had happened on, BC Ferries staff provide these three:

• Route 22 (Denman East/Hornby) 2012

• Route 17 (Westview, Little River) 2014

• Route 25 (Port McNeill, Sointula, Alert Bay) 2015

Traffic statistics for 2012 and 2014 were not available on the BC Ferries web site.

For the months of March, April, and May in 2015, Route 17 averaged 386 vehicles per day; Route 22 averaged 239; and Route 25 averaged 237. In March, April, and May of 2024, Route 19 serving Gabriola averaged 1,265 vehicles transported per day.

For passengers, Routes 17, 22, and 25 averaged – respectively – 898, 456, and 610 passengers per day in March, April, and May of 2015.

Route 19 serving Gabriola averaged 2,367 passengers per day in March, April, and May of 2024.

BC Ferries was also asked if it knows how many vehicles currently travelling on the Gabriola route are for business versus personal – potentially eligible for barge service.

Staff responded saying, “we don’t have that specific information at this stage. We’re still in the early planning phases and will be consulting with the community as we move forward.

“Also, we will have a plan in place prior to construction beginning, with alternate service to mitigate the impact of this work.”