BC Ferries is introducing two additional sailings on the Route 3 connection between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale to meet peak demand during shoulder seasons. These extra trips total 120 sailings, running from mid-May to late June and from September to mid-October.
The new departures from Horseshoe Bay occur at 3:45 p.m. and 6:05 p.m., with returns from Langdale at 4:55 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. This follows a recent review showing the route incurred a $30 million loss in the 2025 fiscal year, including $24 million after subsidies, despite record passenger numbers exceeding 2.7 million—a 2.5 percent increase.
Local Leaders Welcome Improvements
Gibsons Mayor Silas White notes that residents have long requested more service during off-peak periods. “Our community is not getting satisfactory service right now, at least to our standards,” White stated. He acknowledges the operator’s strengths, adding, “BC Ferries actually offers excellent service most of the time. Those times when people are stuck in the terminals waiting, when ferries are cancelled, that sticks in people’s minds.”
White emphasizes the need for a second vessel in summer, though he recognizes it requires extra crew and may not be profitable. “That second boat in the summer … is actually a money loser for them because they need a whole new crew for that boat,” he explained.
Reservation Enhancements and Capacity Boost
Jeff Groot, BC Ferries executive director of communications, explains that the added sailings are revenue-neutral, enabled by full bookings on the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo route. “These are changes that we know are going to benefit the community,” Groot said.
The operator is raising reservation levels to 70 percent across the route, with variations by sailing, up from an average 60 percent utilization. “We don’t have enough people on those sailings,” Groot noted. Reservations target less busy trips, offering fare saver prices while keeping drive-up spaces on every vessel. Plans aim for 80 percent reservations to expand saver fare options. “The only way that we can actually offer the significant increase in saver fares is by increasing the reservation percentage,” he added. Groot assures, “This is not a situation where there’s going to be a fully bookable ship on this route.”
Resident Challenges Persist
West Sechelt parent Poppy Hallam, who travels to the mainland several times weekly, welcomes the changes but highlights ongoing frustrations after seven years on the coast. “If it’s anywhere closer to the way the summer ferries are, it would be amazing,” she said. Hallam faces costs of at least $400 weekly for 10 weeks in spring, totaling $4,000, due to mandatory reservations both ways for her sons’ medical appointments and hockey commitments.
“It’s just getting worse and worse. My kids are growing up, and I need to go to the city, and it’s getting super frustrating,” Hallam shared. She is now selling her home to relocate to Vancouver Island. “It’s becoming elitist to just be able to travel,” she criticized, arguing extra reservations alone do not solve the issues.
Community Forms Advisory Group
In response, the Town of Gibsons is assembling a ferry advisory committee of six to eight volunteers. This community-led group will advocate for local needs, with members selected via applications. “It’s to express the community voice, support our local governments in advocating and expressing the community voice,” White said.
A petition seeking free reservations for Sunshine Coast residents has garnered over 2,400 signatures. White indicates the committee may explore this, noting, “Sometimes those asks can be more complicated than people realize.”
