'A rocky summer': BC Ferries' union says recently cancelled sailings could be just the beginning

Despite recruiting efforts underway ahead of the busy summer season, 8 sailings on major routes connecting Tsawwassen to Vancouver Island were cancelled in a 48-hour period because of staffing shortages at BC. Ferries.

The cancellations impacted routes to and from both Nanaimo and Victoria. 

“Our crewing department actively works very hard to try to fill all the positions so we don’t have to cancel any sailings, but unfortunately the past couple of days we had to cancel a few,” said BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall on Tuesday.

While COVID-19 is still a factor, the biggest challenge is filling hundreds of staff vacancies.

“Our (human resources) department has been actively recruiting, and over the past several months we have hired about 850 new staff members,” said Marshall, adding the majority are seasonal employees for the summer months. “But we still have about 150 more positions to recruit.”

Eric McNeely with the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers Union said while he’s happy the company is aggressively recruiting, “hiring is one thing, having them stay is another.”

McNeely says anecdotally, he’s heard stories of eight people being hired and seven of them dropping out of training to take another job instead. The staffing crunch has existing employees being asked to work overtime to keep the routes going.

“Frankly, I think the fleet is running on overtime, and that’s just a recipe for burnout. We have been seeing that for months,” said McNeely.

While BC Ferries says it’s confident it can staff the extra routes that have been added to meet what’s expected to be huge demand over the summer, the union predicts rough waters ahead.

“There’s going to be some challenges in the sailings in the summer, I think this is probably the beginning of it. And unless there are some real fundamental changes taken quickly, it’s going to be difficult,” said McNeely.

“I think its' going to be a rocky summer.”