About BC Ferries

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BC Ferries Proudly Celebrates 50 Years of Service

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Before BC Ferries

Ferry service on the west coast of British Columbia has a long and proud history.

The Hudson's Bay Company was the early pioneer of regular passenger and freight service between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland in the mid 1800s. By 1901, Canadian Pacific Railway had taken over ferry service across the Strait of Georgia and continued transporting passengers and vehicles on a five-hour journey between downtown Vancouver and downtown Victoria until the 1960s.

Further north, the Black Ball Line had arrived on the scene in the early 1950s to offer service between Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and Departure Bay in Nanaimo, as well as to the Sunshine Coast and Jervis Inlet south of Powell River.

Recognizing the need for continued reliable ferry service on the West Coast in the late 1950's, Premier W.A.C. Bennett announced on July 18, 1958, that the British Columbia Ferry Authority would take over service under mandate from the provincial government.
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