BC Ferries redevelopment $42M over budget, failed redaction shows

Earlier this month, it was revealed BC Ferries sought approval from the BC Ferries Commissioner to allocate additional funding to a fleet redevelopment project now expected to exceed $168 million,  $42 million over its original budget.

Project affected by delays

The BC Ferries’ Fleet Maintenance Unit (FMU), located in Richmond, is undergoing redevelopment to increase ”internal repair capacity, while protecting valuable assets and positioning the FMU to provide increased fleet support into the future,” per a supplemental filing document made to the British Columbia Ferries Commissioner, given by BC Ferries to CHEK News.

The document asks that BC Ferries receive a funding increase beyond the current appropriation, due to “the extended delay [in receiving permits] and the expanded scope [that] have exceeded the capacity of the existing contingency budget.”

The document redacted the monetary numbers. However, it appears that BC Ferries did not do it properly, as simply copying and pasting the excerpt once it is downloaded successfully can unredact the figures.

A redacted statement in the filing. By simply converting the document in pdf format and copying and pasting the text, one can uncover the full statement. This one reads “In summary, BC Ferries seeks an order permitting it to proceed with the Project based on a revised forecast total cost for the Project of $168.5 million, of which $152.8 million is for capital expenditures (including $4.8 million of contingency), $10.3 million is for interest during construction (“IDC”) and $5.4 million is for operating costs (including $0.4 million of contingency). This revised estimate reflects a $15.5 million (10%) increase from the Approved Amount established in Order 22-02A.”

After doing this, it's seen that the project initially cost $126.4 million, then went to $153 million, and then ballooned to $168.5 million.

Costs aligned with endeavors of national importance rather than local

The costs associated with this project, a redevelopment of a ferry repair facility, are more in line with those of a major shipyard upgrade. In 2014, Seaspan modernized its Vancouver shipyard for $140 million, equivalent to roughly $185 million in today’s dollars. That refurbishment enabled the shipyard to support Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy operations, projects significantly larger and more complex than ferry maintenance, yet it appears to have cost only about $17 million more in present-day terms.

While the provincial government has no direct fiscal or administrative oversight of BC Ferries, it does appoint a significant portion of the BC Ferries Authority board, alongside coastal regional districts. The province is set to unveil its 2026 budget next week, with a stated focus on fiscal restraint.