TIABC Voice of Tourism Newsletter – October 31, 2025

Part of my summer staycation was spent at Mayne Island where friends have a waterfront property that looks out over Active Pass. From first light to well past sundown, I watched countless ferries sail past our cottage, each vessel carrying passengers to and from Victoria, Vancouver, and the other Gulf Islands.

On several occasions, I witnessed something that I hadn’t seen before: smaller ferries would pull into a bay to make room for larger ones with less maneuverability but greater speed to allow the bigger vessels to navigate the channel more quickly and easily so travellers could get to their destination on time.

After leaving Mayne Island for home, I noticed something else I hadn’t seen before on approach to the Tsawwassen terminal. Instead of a straight shot toward the passage between Mayne and Galiano islands, the oncoming ferry veered right (west) for a fair distance before heading southeast towards the Gulf Islands on its usual course. I later learned that BC Ferries was evaluating an alternate route option in the event the United States decides to enforce its maritime border, a small part of which is regularly breached by a BC ferry on each sailing between Tsawwassen, Victoria, and the southern Gulf Islands.

It got me thinking of how much influence the POTUS has on our province, even for vital services such as BC Ferries, let alone trade and commerce. As you recall, after President Trump assumed office and implemented tariffs on multiple sectors in Canada, Premier Eby formed a Trade and Economic Security Taskforce to deal with the dispute between Canada and the USA. TIABC served on the committee and on behalf of the province’s tourism sector, submitted a 78-page brief with recommendations by multiple sectors, businesses and DMOs on how BC could invest in tourism to address some of the key issues our sector faces to keep British Columbia’s economy on track and strong.

Some months ago I promised to update you on the status of the Premier’s Task Force (PTF) and what, if anything, we need to do as a sector to elevate our voice within government through some of the movers and shakers at the table. The group last met in mid-July and has been awaiting word on next steps.

Last week I received a letter from the Province advising me that the activities of the Taskforce have concluded. In the note, the minister responsible for the PTF (Hon. Ravi Kahlon) stated that the group was established to advise government on navigating the challenges posed by an increasingly adversarial trading relationship with the US, but over time, its scope evolved to consider broader questions of economic security and resiliency, as well as steps necessary to building longer-term prosperity in BC.

Minister Kahlon also reiterated the need to engage with TIABC, particularly in preparation for negotiations on the Canada-U.S.A.-Mexico (CUSMA) trade agreement, which is in process.

To that end, our partners at the Tourism Industry Association of Canada have sought input from provincial/territorial counterparts, including TIABC, on a draft CUSMA submission to the federal government that highlights the need to preserve a healthy travel relationship between our respective countries, focussing on preferential access for North American business travellers, enhancing the Electronic Travel Authorization Program (eTA), and developing targeted relief measures to shield tourism SMEs from rising costs and supply chain volatility. Once finalized, we’ll share the brief with Minister Kahlon to help inform the Province’s work with the feds on this important file. We will also continue to advance the recommendations in our PTF submission with various ministries in an effort to gain more support for investing in BC’s visitor economy to counter US trade measures and related issues.

I’m almost certain than 99.9% of passengers on board a ferry from Tsawwassen to Vancouver Island are completely oblivious to the fact that for a short distance they’re sailing through American waters, likely without a passport, Nexus card, visa, or other official documentation normally required to enter the US. I can only hope the White House never enforces that small maritime border area or we might all be witness to more extraordinary maneuvers by our ferry system in the days ahead.

Walt Judas

CEO, TIABC