Vancouver Island to U.S. ferry cancelled until 2030 — at the earliest

A ferry connecting a Vancouver Island town to a city in the U.S. won't return until at least 2030, due to a vessel shortage and much needed repairs on older vessels. 

The ferry service, operated by Washington State Ferries (WSF), between Sidney, B.C., on Vancouver Island and Anacortes, Wash., halted operations in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Town of Sidney, it hasn't resumed since, due to a crew shortage and the retirement of several older boats. 

Sidney Mayor Cliff McNeil-Smith said the connection between the two communities is vital, and the loss of ferry service for another seven years will have an impact on the town's tourism. 

"It's difficult news to receive," he told On The Island host Gregor Craigie. 

"We were hopeful, particularly given the long history of the ferry service, that it would return this year."

The ferry between Anacortes and Sidney began in 1922, when two vessels carrying 175 passengers and 23 cars made their way through the San Juan Islands up to Canada, according to the City of Anacortes website.

McNeil-Smith said the ferry service has been instrumental in maintaining friendships and family connections between the two cities over the years. 

First Nation frustration

The severing of ferry services between Canada and the United States has had a frustrating impact on Indigenous people on both sides of the border, according to Eric Pelkey, hereditary chief of Tsawout of the W̱SÁNEĆ Nation.

Pelkey, who is also the community engagement co-ordinator for the First Nation on southern Vancouver Island, said the route was used daily by community members whose traditional territories span across southwest B.C. and the Pacific Northwest, and who earn a living, or visit family regularly, in the U.S.

"The stoppage of the ferry created a huge problem with our people and it made it more difficult for us to practise our culture and a problem for people that actually worked over there," said Pelkey, speaking Thursday to On The Island.

Since the route closed in 2020, Pelkey said people tried travelling regularly via B.C. Ferries, but it was too expensive and time consuming.

He said First Nations on the other side of the border have been lobbying Washington state to restart the route and he hopes their efforts come to fruition so Indigenous people can once again enjoy ease of movement to attend work or ceremonies and to visit loved ones separated by a colonial border.

"We would like to see the Anacortes ferry restarted and give that avenue back to us for the exchange between our people," said Pelkey, adding the lack of service "is a huge impediment to the practice of our culture."

Aging fleet

According to the Washington State Ferries Service Restoration Plan, recruitment and retention are priorities to be able to continue operating at capacity. 

However, as ferries — some as old as 50 years — have to be repaired and retired, it is expected that vessel availability will remain an issue. 

"In coming years, vessel availability will become a major constraint, especially in restoring international service to Sidney, B.C.," the plan reads. 

"With no WSF vessels built between 2000 and 2010 … the fleet is aging, with 11 of the 21 vessels over 40 years old, including five over 50 years old."

An estimated 136,000 passengers used the ferry in 2019, the last year the route operated regularly, according to a WSF spokesperson. Typically, there was one daily sailing to Sidney during the spring, and two in the summer.