On the Friday before Thanksgiving 2026, BC Ferries reported that more than 90,000 vehicle spots on its major routes were already booked for the long weekend. The company expected about 175,000 vehicles and 446,000 passengers between Thursday and Tuesday on the crossings that link Metro Vancouver, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, and it described the holiday as the fourth busiest weekend of its year, CTV News reported on October 9. Tucked into the same report was a rule that would have sounded strange to Nanaimo drivers a decade earlier: every vehicle sailing from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay, motorcycles and commercial trucks included, now needs a reservation.
That rule is the newest response to one of the oldest complaints in the city. BC ferry waits on the run between Departure Bay and Horseshoe Bay have been counted in sailings, not minutes, for most of the route's life, and when the numbers were finally released for 2016 the route had the worst record on the coast.
A crossing older than BC Ferries
The route began as a private business. The Black Ball Line was the Canadian arm of the Puget Sound Navigation Company, formed after Washington State took over most of that company's ferries in 1951. Sources differ on when Nanaimo joined its network. The Wikipedia entry on the Departure Bay terminal says service opened in 1951, while a 2021 history in the Squamish Chief puts the start of the Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay run in 1953. The Encyclopedia of British Columbia gives 1951 to 1961 for the line's whole run on the South Coast.
The first ship on the run had a long past before it ever reached Nanaimo. According to the Squamish Chief, the Kahloke was a steamer built in Philadelphia in 1903 as the Asbury Park, later worked San Francisco Bay as the City of Sacramento, and ended its career in 1977 as BC Ferries' Langdale Queen. Black Ball added Chinook II, its most modern vessel, to the Nanaimo route in 1955.
A labour dispute in the summer of 1958 stopped the Canadian Pacific ferries and then Black Ball's. Premier W.A.C. Bennett answered by taking the province into the ferry business. The Encyclopedia of British Columbia records that the Sidney and the Tsawwassen went into service between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen on June 9, 1960. On November 30, 1961, cabinet approved the purchase of Black Ball's British Columbia fleet and terminals for $6,690,000, and Departure Bay became part of the government system.
The company that runs the crossing today is a different creature again. In 2003 BC Ferries changed from a Crown corporation into a company whose single voting share is held by the BC Ferry Authority, operating under a 60-year contract with the province and regulated by an independent commissioner who caps average fare increases.
Why the Nanaimo side fills first
Departure Bay is at 680 Trans-Canada Highway, at the southern end of the bay of the same name, and it handled 1,551,280 passengers in 2024. Until the Duke Point terminal opened in 1997 it also had regular sailings to Tsawwassen; that service moved south of the city to ease traffic in Nanaimo. Its route to Horseshoe Bay runs under a provincial contract with a floor of eight round trips a day in peak periods and seven off peak. At the Duke Point terminal, BC Ferries scheduled a two-day closure in January 2019 to replace the vehicle ramp and apron installed in 1997.
What makes the lineups at Departure Bay so long is the direction of travel at the end of a weekend. A BC Ferries spokesperson, Deborah Marshall, told CBC in 2018 that the terminal takes a lot of vehicles heading back to the Lower Mainland on summer Sunday afternoons.
What the 2016 numbers showed
The clearest picture of the problem came from a Freedom of Information request that CBC News filed in June 2017. The broadcaster received data on more than 31,000 sailings in 2016 across five routes and published its analysis in February 2018. On the Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen route, 52 per cent of sailings left some cars behind, the highest share of the five routes. The longest lines, though, were in Nanaimo.
Of the 34 sailings that year that left more than 500 vehicles waiting, 23 were on the Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay route, mostly on the Nanaimo side. From Departure Bay the busiest days were Sundays and Fridays, the busiest month was August, the worst single days were Sundays and the holiday Monday in August, and the 10:40 a.m., 12:50 p.m. and 3:10 p.m. sailings left the most people behind in both directions. Sailings before 10:40 a.m. had far fewer vehicles stranded.
If you are driving down from Courtenay or Campbell River on a summer Sunday, that last line is the most useful number in the whole data set.
Reservations did exist in 2016, but they were awkward. CBC described vehicle reservations costing between $10 and $21 on top of the fare, closing two and a half hours before departure and only redeemable between 60 and 30 minutes before the sailing, with no refund if the slot went unused. A Courtenay chiropractor, Colin Wilson, told the broadcaster he often waited anyway because he could not predict which sailing he would reach after an hour's drive to Nanaimo, and that he had started flying to Vancouver for work instead. Marshall said a more flexible system was coming within five years, without a firmer date.
Cuts, new fares and an argument about capacity
The province had already been looking at the route as a place to save money. When the government announced ferry service cuts in November 2013, it set a target of $4.9 million in savings on the three major routes by 2016 and said it would keep studying Route 2, Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay, and the Duke Point to Tsawwassen route for further reductions, including how mid-island ferries should connect to the mainland.
The fare structure changed in March 2021, when BC Ferries introduced Saver and Prepaid fares on its three Vancouver to Vancouver Island routes, Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay among them. Then chief executive Mark Collins said those routes accounted for about 60 per cent of all ferry traffic and that the new fares would "help spread traffic across the day, reducing sailing waits at popular times."
The sharpest argument came over ships. BC Ferries asked for five new major vessels; in March 2025 the BC Ferries Commissioner, Eva Hage, approved four. They are diesel-battery hybrids meant to replace the Queen of Alberni, Queen of New Westminster, Queen of Coquitlam and Queen of Cowichan, the first expected in 2029, and they should add about 12 per cent capacity on the busiest crossings. "A fifth vessel, however, is neither essential nor affordable at this time," Hage said. Chief executive Nicolas Jimenez said the company was "disappointed and obviously at odds with this decision," and argued that a fifth ship, which BC Ferries said could have raised capacity by up to 40 per cent, would only get more expensive. "We see the full fares, the long waits, and the economic impact of service constraints," he said.
Prices moved as well. Under the commissioner's cap of a 3.2 per cent average annual increase, BC Ferries announced in November 2025 that drive-up and prepaid fares for a standard vehicle and an adult on the major routes would rise to $110 from April 8, 2026, while adding Saver fares to more than 30 per cent of bookable space. Brian Anderson, vice-president of strategy and planning, said the company had set new records in each of the previous two summers.
Construction at Horseshoe Bay and mandatory bookings
The immediate cause of the booking rule is concrete, steel and a terminal nearly 65 years old. In February 2025 BC Ferries announced a renewal program at Horseshoe Bay that includes upgrading or replacing three berths, relocating the control tower and upgrading ageing elevated structures, at a cost it expects to reach the hundreds of millions. "Horseshoe Bay is one of our oldest and busiest terminals," said Stephen Jones, vice-president of engineering.
In May 2025 the company said the work would cut vehicle holding space at the terminal by about 25 per cent and keep overall capacity below existing levels for several years. Its release pointed to the Easter long weekend, when congestion at the terminal put pressure on local communities, police and road safety. To relieve the route, BC Ferries added a daily 4:30 p.m. sailing from Tsawwassen straight into Departure Bay from June 19, 2025.
From October 15, 2025, every vehicle leaving Horseshoe Bay for Departure Bay has had to book and pay in advance. The same day the company extended a sailing space alert to the route, an email that tells drivers of standard vehicles when a space opens on a full sailing. "This new tool is designed to help customers stay informed and act quickly if space becomes available," said Melanie Lucia, vice-president of customer experience. Reservations remain optional from Departure Bay, and foot passengers are not affected. Walk-on travellers also have Hullo's private foot ferry to Vancouver's Coal Harbour, which passed 1.5 million passengers by August 2026.
Where the waits stand in October 2026
By Thanksgiving 2026 the rule was a year old and still in force, and BC ferry waits had moved, for southbound drivers at least, from the lineup to the booking screen. CTV reported that the booking window on the Departure Bay route had been shortened from two hours to 30 minutes to give drivers more flexibility, and BC Ferries told walk-on travellers to reserve as well, since the holiday is usually its busiest weekend of the year for foot passengers. "Advance bookings are tracking well ahead of last year," said spokesperson Amanda Wawryk.
On the Nanaimo side, drivers can still arrive without a booking, as they could in 2016, although BC Ferries recommends one.
None of the BC Ferries releases from 2025 say whether drive-up travel from Horseshoe Bay will return once the terminal work is finished, and the first of the four new ships is not due until 2029.
Questions
Do I need a reservation to drive from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay?
No. The booking rule only applies to vehicles leaving Horseshoe Bay for Departure Bay. Going the other way you can still drive up, although BC Ferries recommends booking, and on summer Sundays and holiday Mondays the Nanaimo side has historically been where the longest lines form.
Do foot passengers need to book the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo ferry?
Foot passengers and cyclists are not covered by the mandatory vehicle reservation. On long weekends, though, BC Ferries has warned that walk-on capacity can sell out too, and Thanksgiving is usually its busiest weekend of the year for people travelling on foot.
What happens if the sailing I want from Horseshoe Bay is full?
Drivers of standard under-height vehicles can sign up for a sailing space alert. If a spot opens, BC Ferries sends an email with a link, and the space goes to whoever books it first.
Why is Departure Bay busier than Duke Point?
Departure Bay is in the city itself, has city bus connections and sails to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, while Duke Point, south of the city, sails to Tsawwassen. BC Ferries has said Duke Point is often a good option depending on where in the Lower Mainland a traveller is going. In the 2016 data that CBC analysed, the Duke Point route left the smallest share of vehicles behind.
How long is the Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay ferry wait on a busy day?
There is no fixed figure, because waits are counted in full sailings: every sailing that fills before your car reaches the ramp means waiting for the next departure. In 2016, 23 sailings on the route left more than 500 vehicles behind.
When will BC Ferries have more capacity on the Nanaimo route?
The BC Ferries Commissioner approved four new diesel-battery hybrid ferries in March 2025 to replace the Queens of Alberni, New Westminster, Coquitlam and Cowichan, with the first expected in service in 2029. The four are expected to add about 12 per cent capacity on the busiest routes between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
How much does the ferry from Nanaimo to Vancouver cost in 2026?
From April 8, 2026, the drive-up and prepaid fare for a standard vehicle with one adult on the major Metro Vancouver to Vancouver Island routes is $110. An adult foot passenger pays $21, and Saver fares on quieter sailings stay lower.
Can you still use Duke Point to avoid a wait at Departure Bay?
Yes. BC Ferries itself has suggested Duke Point as the alternative when Departure Bay is busy. Since June 2025 there has also been a daily 4:30 p.m. sailing from Tsawwassen directly into Departure Bay.
Who decides how much BC Ferries can raise fares?
The BC Ferries Commissioner, an independent regulator, sets a cap on the average annual fare increase. For the four years from April 2024 to March 2028 the cap is 3.2 per cent a year, and BC Ferries chooses how to spread that across individual routes.
Sources
- Thanksgiving weekend BC Ferries bookings 'well ahead' of last year, company says, CTV News, 2026-10-09
- Departure Bay ferry terminal, Wikipedia
- Black Ball Ferries transformed Coast 70 years ago this month, Squamish Chief, 2021-08
- Black Ball Line, Encyclopedia of British Columbia (KnowBC)
- BC Ferry Corp, Encyclopedia of British Columbia (KnowBC)
- Here's when to shell out money for BC Ferries reservations, CBC News, 2018-02-25
- B.C. government announces cuts to minor ferry routes, no more free rides for seniors and maybe gambling, Business in Vancouver, 2013-11-18
- BC Ferries launches new fare options for Vancouver - Vancouver Island routes, BC Ferries, 2021-03-03
- B.C. Ferries approved for 4 out of the 5 new vessels it had requested, CBC News, 2025-03-31
- Essential infrastructure renewal program at Horseshoe Bay Terminal gets underway, BC Ferries, 2025-02-19
- Vehicle reservations will be required on B.C. Ferries from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo starting this fall, CBC News, 2025-05-02
- BC Ferries reservations mandatory this fall on Horseshoe Bay-to-Departure Bay route, West Coast Traveller (Black Press Media), 2025-05-05
- BC Ferries rolling out new tool to improve travel planning ahead of changes at Horseshoe Bay, BC Ferries, 2025-10-10
- BC Ferries expands off-peak savings and applies routine tariff update to support affordability and long-term reliability, BC Ferries, 2025-11-28
- About us, BC Ferry Authority
