November 28, 2025
For Immediate Release
November 28, 2025
November 28, 2025
VICTORIA, BC - BC Ferries is expanding off-peak travel discounts and applying the annual fare adjustments made within the pricing framework approved by the BC Ferry Commissioner for this current four-year period. The Commissioner sets the maximum average annual fare cap, which guides how much fares can rise on average each fiscal year to keep pricing predictable and ensure the system can cover essential operating and maintenance costs. These adjustments will take effect April 8, 2026.
The company is announcing these updates earlier to help customers plan for what is expected to be an extremely busy summer. The FIFA World Cup 2026™ Final Draw will be announced next week, and BC Ferries will open summer bookings and publish its full summer schedule that same day – several weeks ahead of the usual spring release. To support anticipated demand, BC Ferries will also move into its peak season schedule for routes connecting the Mainland to Vancouver Island two weeks earlier than in past years.
“Demand for ferry travel continues to grow, and we have set new records for the last two summers,” said Brian Anderson, Vice President of Strategy & Planning at BC Ferries. “The tournament is expected to add a further lift, and early planning will help customers secure the sailings and savings that work best for them. At the same time, operating one of the largest ferry networks in the world comes with significant cost pressures – from maintaining an aging fleet and terminals to rising labour, fuel and parts costs. Announcing fares and opening bookings now gives customers more time to plan and helps us manage demand in a way that supports reliability for everyone who depends on the system.”
As part of this year’s changes, BC Ferries is increasing the number of Saver fares to more than 30 per cent of all bookable space to support affordability for customers. Saver fares are lower-priced fares on sailings that typically have more available space, such as midweek, early morning or late evening departures. With more than 200,000 additional discounted fares, customers will have more low-cost options when they book in advance. As demand grows, shifting more travel to off-peak periods helps all customers by reducing congestion on the busiest sailings and improves the use of available capacity.
BC Ferries is also aligning fares on its major routes between Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Starting April 8, both drive-up and prepaid fares for a standard vehicle and adult will increase to $110, encouraging advance booking and supporting capacity planning. Foot passenger fares will increase by $1 to $21 for an adult and by $0.50 to $10.50 for a child. Foot passenger Saver fares will remain at $15 for adults and $7.50 for children. On minor and northern routes, fares will increase by between $0.95 to $2.05 for a standard vehicle and between $0.40 to $0.60 for adult passengers, depending on the route.
Rather than applying a flat increase to all fares, BC Ferries is making targeted adjustments that average to the 3.2 per cent overall increase approved by the BC Ferry Commissioner. This approach supports customers by optimizing capacity, balancing costs across a large, geographically dispersed system, and encouraging more off-peak travel – which keeps peak sailings moving on time, reduces terminal congestion, and helps BC Ferries make the most of the fleet and schedules available.
Together, the expanded Saver fares, annual fare adjustments, and earlier access to the summer schedule support a more predictable and reliable travel experience for customers. These steps also help ensure the ferry system remains sustainable as demand continues to grow across British Columbia.
The company is announcing these updates earlier to help customers plan for what is expected to be an extremely busy summer. The FIFA World Cup 2026™ Final Draw will be announced next week, and BC Ferries will open summer bookings and publish its full summer schedule that same day – several weeks ahead of the usual spring release. To support anticipated demand, BC Ferries will also move into its peak season schedule for routes connecting the Mainland to Vancouver Island two weeks earlier than in past years.
“Demand for ferry travel continues to grow, and we have set new records for the last two summers,” said Brian Anderson, Vice President of Strategy & Planning at BC Ferries. “The tournament is expected to add a further lift, and early planning will help customers secure the sailings and savings that work best for them. At the same time, operating one of the largest ferry networks in the world comes with significant cost pressures – from maintaining an aging fleet and terminals to rising labour, fuel and parts costs. Announcing fares and opening bookings now gives customers more time to plan and helps us manage demand in a way that supports reliability for everyone who depends on the system.”
As part of this year’s changes, BC Ferries is increasing the number of Saver fares to more than 30 per cent of all bookable space to support affordability for customers. Saver fares are lower-priced fares on sailings that typically have more available space, such as midweek, early morning or late evening departures. With more than 200,000 additional discounted fares, customers will have more low-cost options when they book in advance. As demand grows, shifting more travel to off-peak periods helps all customers by reducing congestion on the busiest sailings and improves the use of available capacity.
BC Ferries is also aligning fares on its major routes between Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Starting April 8, both drive-up and prepaid fares for a standard vehicle and adult will increase to $110, encouraging advance booking and supporting capacity planning. Foot passenger fares will increase by $1 to $21 for an adult and by $0.50 to $10.50 for a child. Foot passenger Saver fares will remain at $15 for adults and $7.50 for children. On minor and northern routes, fares will increase by between $0.95 to $2.05 for a standard vehicle and between $0.40 to $0.60 for adult passengers, depending on the route.
Rather than applying a flat increase to all fares, BC Ferries is making targeted adjustments that average to the 3.2 per cent overall increase approved by the BC Ferry Commissioner. This approach supports customers by optimizing capacity, balancing costs across a large, geographically dispersed system, and encouraging more off-peak travel – which keeps peak sailings moving on time, reduces terminal congestion, and helps BC Ferries make the most of the fleet and schedules available.
Together, the expanded Saver fares, annual fare adjustments, and earlier access to the summer schedule support a more predictable and reliable travel experience for customers. These steps also help ensure the ferry system remains sustainable as demand continues to grow across British Columbia.
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Media Contact:
Victoria: (250) 978-1267
Email: media@bcferries.com
Web: https://www.bcferries.com/contact-us/media-room
Customer Contact:
Victoria: (250) 410-1465
Toll-free: 1-888-BCFERRY (1-888-223-3779)
Web: https://www.bcferries.com/contact-us
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements”. These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the Company’s expectations regarding our growth, financial and business risks, results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities, expected levels of economic activity generated from our business decisions and industry performance and trends. They reflect management’s current internal projections, expectations and beliefs, and are based on information currently available to management. Some of the market conditions and factors that have been considered in formulating the assumptions upon which forward looking statements are based include population and demand growth estimates; anticipated demand for ferry services; traffic trends and seasonal traffic patterns; inflation; interest rates; operating costs, including labour, materials and fuel costs; the state of the economy; tariff impacts and fluctuating financial markets; anticipated impacts of fare adjustments and demand smoothing. A number of factors could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward looking statements. Although we believe that the forward looking statements contained in this press release are based upon reasonable assumptions, investors cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances except as may be required by applicable law.