BC Ferries implementing 5 per cent fuel surcharge on all sailings

The BC Ferries vessel Spirit of Vancouver Island leaves Tsawwassen, B.C., bound for Swartz Bay, on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

BC Ferries is raising fares by five per cent by implementing a new fuel surcharge across all sailings.

The price change takes effect on June 16. No end date for the surcharge has been mentioned, but a news release from BC Ferries explains it will be removed or reduced if fuel prices “stabilize or decline for a sustained period.”

As the ferry service explains, fuel is one of its “largest and most volatile operating costs,” and attributes the surcharge to ongoing conflict in the Middle East and “ongoing concerns about the Strait of Hormuz.”

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In a statement, BC Ferries chief financial officer Dallyn Willis says they recognize how the added cost impacts travellers.

He says BC Ferries was able to use a fuel deferral account to avoid raising fares for “as long as possible.”

“Given the sharp and persistent rise in these costs, we’ve reached a point where a temporary fuel surcharge is needed,” said Willis. “We’re taking this step to carefully manage those pressures in the most measured, gradual and responsible way possible while fuel prices remain elevated.”

BC Ferries says this option was chosen instead of others due to it being what they call the “most balanced approach to help manage sustained fuel cost pressures while minimizing impacts to customers as much as possible.”

The fare change for affected dates has yet to be implemented on BC Ferries’ website.