University groups pen letter calling for lowered BC Ferries rates for post-secondary students

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

A coalition of B.C. universities is calling on the province to create a discounted rate for post-secondary students travelling BC Ferries.

Student groups from the B.C. Three, a coalition including the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria, have penned a letter to BC Ferries and the provincial government requesting cheaper walk-on fees for students.

The letter asked for the rate to be lowered to $10. Currently, walk-on fees for sailings between Vancouver, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands range between $15 - $20.

University of Victoria student Nora Carter said she returns home to Vancouver far less than she once did as paying $20 per sailing is an unmanageable pricepoint, especially when combined with the financial restraints that come with being a student, and the rising cost of living.

“It’s like $40 every weekend, and that’s not something that is very attainable,” she said.

Jessica Lamb, vice president of the Simon Fraser Student Society, said the group would like to see a trial run of the $10 fee. The coalition is open to working with the province to settle on a discounted rate, and if a $10 fare is unachievable, then $15 is an option.

“We’re open to negotiating, we’re open to hearing what the province is willing to offer and what they are actually able to provide students,” she said.

Before the letter was released publicly, Lamb said the proposal of a fee decrease was being mentioned in meetings with local MLA’s and MP’s. For the most part, the idea “has been positively received,” she said.

The coalition says it will be officially submitting the discounted rate request to the legislature later this month. According to Lamb, a response from BC Ferries is still yet to be received.

“I like to be optimistic, and the biggest issue is that it hasn’t been formally requested and now it has been,” she says.

“Now it’s on their radar, and now they know that it is something that post secondary students want.”

In a statement sent to CTV News, BC Ferries said fares are regulated by the independent BC Ferries Commission under the Coastal Ferry Act, and funding for the discount would have to come from the province.

“Any new fare categories or discounts, including those for post-secondary students, would require direction and funding from the provincial government,” it said.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Brendan Strain.