Tuesday June 17, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Last week, BC Ferries announced that the transportation service has contracted with a Chinese state-owned shipbuilding company to build the next four New Major Vessels (NMVs) in the BC Ferries fleet.
That decision flies in the face of the NDP provincial government’s position on ‘buy Canadian’ during the current trade conflict with the United States.
See our previous article of June 10 to explore all of the above. [BC Ferries four new major vessels to be constructed in China]
Especially in light of the BC Ferries contract being raised in the House of Commons on June 11 — in the context of choosing a Chinese company instead of a Canadian ship-building company — this article explores the adjunct issue of how the federal government supports ferry services.
One might wonder if the BC Ferries contract for four new ships — had it been under a federal crown corporation instead of being privatized — would have chosen a Canadian ship-building contractor instead of one in China.
East and west:
The political trend under Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney has been to promote ‘one Canada’, with an implied fairness for all regions especially in light of the trade war against the United States which requires a ‘Team Canada’ approach (at least all the provincial and territorial premiers are on board for that).
But when it comes to federal support of coastal ferry services there is quite a difference between east and west.
During the federal election then-candidate Liberal Leader Mark Carney was asked in Victoria in April 2025 if he would review the imbalance between supports for east and west ferries. He replied to media with an implication that there be a degree of fairness for the two coastal regions.
However, the significant difference is that on the east coast the ferries are run by a federal Crown corporation while here in BC the ferry transportation service has since 2003 been run privately by BC Ferries (with regulatory oversight by the British Columbia Ferry Commission). There is one corporate shareholder: The BC Ferry Authority, The Province is the holder of all of the preferred (non-voting) shares of BC Ferries.
When the late John Horgan was leader of the NDP, in 2016 he briefly mentioned an intention to have the province run BC Ferries as a crown corporation, something that dissolved away once the NDP formed government in 2017. Perhaps that was a hill too steep a political and budget hill to climb without a funding model similar to what is in place for Atlantic Canada.
East coast:
On the east coast for the Atlantic provinces, the federal government provides the federal Crown corporation Marine Atlantic more than $128 million annually in federal funding for operations, covering about 43% of its operating costs.
Fares cover the remaining costs.
The federal government also fully funds Marine Atlantic’s capital projects. [Source: Marine Atlantic Annual-Report-2023-2024.pdf]
West coast:
On the west coast, for British Columbia, the federal government has provided funding support to coastal ferry services in since 1977. This began at $8 million to assist two key routes: those linking the Lower Mainland to southern Vancouver Island and northwestern B.C. to northern Vancouver Island.
In 2003, privatization took hold in BC under then BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell. The Province of BC’s Coastal Ferry Act with a governance model transformed BC Ferries from a Crown corporation to a private company that still receives operational and capital funding from the provincial government.
Over time, federal coastal ferry funding has increased with inflation to over $36 million annually, which represents approximately 3% of BC Ferries’ annual operating and financing expenses, says the Ministry of Transportation and Transit. [Source: BC Ferries Financial Results $36 million out of $1.142 billion in fiscal 2023/24].
BC Ferries receives the bulk of its revenues from vehicle and passenger fares ($722.15 million or 65% in the year ending Mar 31, 2024) and some funding from the Province of BC (about 20% in the year ending Mar 31, 2024) including Ferry Service Fees to supplement for non-profitable routes (approx $214.2 million) and Safe Restart Funding ($308 million in 2020, down to $9 million in 2024, now zero). The federal contribution of $35.638 million is about 3.2% of revenues for the fiscal year ending Mar 31, 2024.
This week, the BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit has confirmed that BC Ferries does not receive federal funding towards capital projects, outside of targeted investments in select ferry terminal redevelopment projects or low-interest loans to support the company’s ongoing fleet renewal.
An example of a targeted federal capital investment is last year’s $75 million federal loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank Crown corporation to help BC Ferries finance buying four battery-electric ferries, to expand its Island Class fleet, and installing related charging facilities. [See: CIB to lend BC Ferries $75 million to launch its vessel electrification program with the purchase of four ferries – May 22, 2024]
Passenger and vehicle fares on BC Ferries have increased regularly since the 1960s, when the passenger fare was $2. The passenger fare is now $19.10 on the main Vancouver-Victoria route. [See: BC Ferries fares from 2014 to 2025]
BC Ferry Rates:
Here is a brief overview of BC Ferry fare increases between 2014 and 2025 (on the major route Tsawwassen/Vancouver to Swartz Bay/Victoria). The provincial government of the day which has had some policy influence over the years.
Rates increased fairly regularly under the BC Liberals, were held steady in 2017 to 2019 (with seniors being returned to ‘free’) under the NDP.
Rates were held firm by NDP government influence during the pandemic (2020 and 2021) but increased (except for seniors) in 2022, 2023 and 2024 on the major route between Vancouver and Victoria. Other forms of increases (not detailed below) included for motorcycles, extra-length commercial vehicles, and buses.
| Fare Announcement Date | Passenger (age 12+) | Seniors (Mon-Thurs) | Passenger Vehicle (up to 20 ft) | Political Notes: |
| 2014 [Jan 17] | $15.50 | Free | $51.25 | BC Liberal Govt / Premier Clark |
| 2014 [Apr 1] | $16.25 | $8.15 | $53.25 | “ |
| 2014 [Dec 17] | $16.90 | $8.45 | $53.25 | “ |
| 2015 [Apr 1] | $16.90 | $8.45 | $55.40 | “ |
| 2015 [May 12] | $16.90 | $8.45 | $55.40 | “ |
| 2015 [Oct 1] | $16.90 | $8.45 | $55.40 | “ |
| 2015 [Nov 1] | $16.90 | $8.45 | $55.40 | “ |
| 2016 [Apr 1] | $17.20 | $8.60 | $56.45 | “ |
| 2017 [Apr 1] | $17.20 | $8.60 | $57.50 | “ |
| 2017 [July 1] | $17.20 | $8.60 | $57.50 | NDP Govt / Premier Horgan |
| 2018 [Apr 1] | $17.20 | Free | $57.50 | “ |
| 2019 [Apr 1] | $17.20 | Free | $57.50 | “ |
| 2019 [June 1] | $17.20 | Free | $57.50 | “ |
| 2019 [Dec 17] | $17.20 | Free | $57.50 | “ |
| 2020 [Apr 1] | $17.20 | Free | $57.50 | ” [pandemic / low ridership] |
| 2021 [Apr 1] | $17.20 | Free | $57.50 | ” [pandemic / low ridership] |
| 2022 [Apr 8] | $18.00 | Free | $62.00 | “ |
| 2022 [Jun 1] | $18.00 | Free | $62.00 | “ |
| 2022 [Jul 1] | $18.00 | Free | $62.00 | “ |
| 2022 [Nov 1] | $18.00 | Free | $62.00 | “ |
| 2022 [Dec 7] | $18.00 | Free | $62.00 | NDP Govt / Premier Eby |
| 2023 [Apr 12] | $18.50 | Free | $63.85 | “ |
| 2024 [Jun 1] | $19.10 | Free | $67.40 | “ |
| 2025 [Mar 13] | $19.10 | Free | $67.40 | “ |
TABLE: BC FERRIES FARES (Tsawwassen/Swartz Bay): 2014 to 2025 | Source: BC Ferries | Compiled by: Island Social Trends
===== RELATED:
- Vancouver Island MP asks about BC Ferries contract in House of Commons (June 11, 2025)
- BC Ferries four new major vessels to be constructed in China (June 10, 2025)
- Vancouver-Victoria ferry delays on Mother’s Day (May 11, 2025)
- Four new major BC Ferries vessels to service major routes (March 31, 2025)
- NEWS SECTIONS: BC FERRIES | TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION | INFRASTRUCTURE