The Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island are connected to the mainland by BC Ferries, the largest ferry line in North America and the second-largest worldwide, that provides passenger and vehicle transportation among coastal and island communities in British Columbia. The Gulf Islands lie in the Strait of Georgia, between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Initially, the name referred to the archipelago at the southern end of the Strait, from Gabriola Island in the north to Saturna Island in the southeast and D’Arcy Island in the southwest. However, in the 1990s, it was extended to include all islands in the Strait of Georgia. The Gulf Islands are part of the Insular Belt, a geological region comprising three major island groups: Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, Haida Gwaii, and the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska. This belt includes island mountains and the rocks beneath the submerged continental margin and Strait of Georgia. The Insular Belt is a complex of tectonostratigraphic terranes that accreted to the western edge of North America from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene epoch. The terranes comprise a series of volcanic intrusions and sedimentary rocks formed during the tectonic collision of an ancient island arc with North America. Most rocks in the southern part of the Insular Belt date from the mid-Paleozoic to the Early Mesozoic era, approximately 350 to 180 million years ago. Sandstones, mostly on the east side of Vancouver Island and submerged around it, along with local igneous rocks, are mainly from the Late Cretaceous to early Paleogene period, about 85 to 40 million years ago. Low-relief areas on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands are underlain by marine and non-marine sediments from the Cretaceous period, belonging to the Nanaimo Group. This group consists of sandstone, siltstone, shale, conglomerate, and often coal. Differential erosion of weak siltstone and shale forms valleys, while resistant sandstone and conglomerate create ridges. Glacial scour and sediment deposition during the Vashon Stage of the Fraser Glaciation, 25,000 to 15,000 years ago, significantly altered the landscape. Low-lying coastal areas in southeastern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands are covered by glaciomarine drift, beach materials, till, and glacial or fluvial sand and gravel.

The Strait of Georgia is the traditional territory of First Nations belonging to the Coast Salish language group. This area includes the entire coastline of the Strait of Georgia, the Fraser River up to and including the western canyon, as well as parts of northern Puget Sound. The Coast Salish groups consist of the Nooksack and Northern Straits, a Salish language that encompasses the dialects of the Lummi, Klallam, Saanich, Samish, and Songhees. In 1791, the Spanish Captain Manuel Quimper explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the islands in northern Puget Sound. Later that year, Francisco de Eliza created the first charts of the islands and named them Isla y Archipiélago de San Juan. José María Narváez, an officer under Eliza’s command, was the first European to explore the northern islands, which were named “Gran Canal de Nuestra Señora del Rosario la Marinera.” In 1792, Captain George Vancouver explored the area, while a Spanish expedition led by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores was also investigating the region. Shortly after leaving the San Juan Islands, British and Spanish ships met and cooperated in exploring areas to the north. George Vancouver was aware of the names given by Eliza’s expedition and generally retained them, although he renamed some features. For example, he named the “Gulf of Georgia” after King George III. Vancouver defined the Gulf of Georgia as encompassing all inland waters beyond the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, including Puget Sound, Bellingham Bay, the waters around the San Juan Islands, and the Strait of Georgia. He designated the mainland in this region as New Georgia, with areas farther north named New Hanover and New Bremen. In 1843, Britain leased the entirety of Vancouver Island to the Hudson’s Bay Company. James Douglas was tasked with establishing a trading post on the southern tip, which was named Fort Victoria.

BC Ferries was created by Premier W.A.C. Bennett, who announced plans in 1958 to build and operate a ferry service. This initiative resulted from labor unrest with the American-owned Puget Sound Navigation Company, known as Black Ball Ferries, which operated the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo route, and the Montreal-based Canadian Pacific Railway ferries, which provided service between Vancouver and Victoria. That summer, Canadian Pacific workers had been on strike for over two months, and the federal government was unwilling to intervene. Black Ball workers threatened a sympathy strike, prompting Bennett to invoke the Civil Defense Act, allowing the province to seize and operate the ships during a strike. In 1960, BC Ferries launched service with two purpose-built ships, MV Queen of Tsawwassen and MV Queen of Sidney, modeled after the MV Coho built for Black Ball Ferries in 1959. These ships operated from new terminals at Tsawwassen, south of Vancouver, and Swartz Bay, north of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula. In 1961, BC Ferries acquired Black Ball Ferries’ Canadian assets, and Canadian Pacific ended its Vancouver to Victoria service in 1962. In its first full year, BC Ferries carried over 2 million passengers and 697,000 vehicles. In terms of governance, BC Ferries initially operated as a division of the British Columbia Toll Highways and Bridges Authority and was subject to a high degree of political interference in its business operations. This interference included setting schedules and fares, as well as approving capital expenditures for building new ships and terminal infrastructure. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, BC Ferries expanded its service area by developing and acquiring new routes and vessels, along with the necessary terminal infrastructure. In 1977, BC Ferries officially became a Crown corporation with its own board of directors, an official legislated mandate, and greater independence from the government. By 2012, BC Ferries carried 20.1 million passengers and 7.84 million vehicles on its 25 service routes, utilizing 47 terminals and a fleet of 36 vessels. British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. now operates as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. Read more here and here. Explore more of BC Ferries and the Southern Gulf Islands here: