deckhand

customer service attendant

service attendant

customer service representative

scheduler

BC Ferries

This is an excellent place to work in the summer, but I would recommend anyone applying to have a back up plan for the months of October - April (excluding December). You start off as a seasonal hire, and your contract ends mid-october. If you are career oriented this might not be the job for you as it is a seniority based system not a merit based system. You can be the best worker in your year, at your base, or on the vessel but it doesn't mean anything to the company.

I would recommend new hires have a 2nd job because applying for EI though BCF is hard as it takes a while to go though the office and most of the time they don't follow up so you have to email them constantly for an update. When I say that you need a back up plan for the months of Oct- April I am not kidding. You might have some shifts in Oct but once Nov hits there is nothing. I am talking no scheduled shifts and calls from crewing are rare. December is the holiday season so you will have shifts but when January hits and its back to nothing.

Also you better not get sick during the summer at all or HR will call you in for a meeting and this will jeopardize your chances of getting your casual conversion. 

Once you make Casual, you are then on-call 24/7 365 days a year, and they WILL call you as early as 0445. You don't technically have to take the shift if it is under 2 hours and if it is under 2 hours and you decline, there is no repercussions. If it is over 2 hours and you tell them that you can't make it, it is then classified as a refusal and if you refuse enough shifts it can result in disciplinary action. Also when reporting for work they expect you to be in full uniform, so keep that in mind if you are not scheduled to work. I always kept a uniform in my trunk whenever I had to go out.

Job advancement is on a seniority basis. If you have worked there for only 3 years, tough luck getting that time off you wanted during the holiday season. During my time working there, I have met people who have worked for 7+ years and they still haven't gotten a regular job there. A regular job means that you will get a set schedule, and you are no-longer on call. 

The only exception to seniority is if you have your OFA 3 licence. Once you have your OFA 3 they will hire you straight casual and you will be ahead of everyone regardless of your hire date.

Again this is a fun place to work during the summer, and they pay very well but if you want to work here permanently I would suggest you have a back up plan for the winter months for at least the next 3 years and you better be willing to drop everything at the sound of a phone call from crewing. This means if you are in the middle of breakfast, lunch, dinner, a wedding banquet, a date, a funeral, another job, they REQUIRE you to be able to take the shift they have scheduled for you.

I have worked here for over 19 years. Sadly the management has no compassion for the union members. They changed the daily working hours and added an extra 2 hours to each employees day without any consultaion from the employees.  The goal was to achive "on time performance"  which was never reached. Eliminated employees daily overtime (equal to 20-25% extra in salary) and introduced extreme shift work from 4:20 am to your afternoons finishing at midnight to 1 am. So less money and more difficult hours. Overall good benifits although your mind and body is compromised for this due to fatigue adverse shifts.  The casual employees have no idea when they will be working and also have the fear of the crewing office constantly changing their shifts at a whim from late afternoons to early morning shifts due their "operational requirement clause".  Lastly the human resources office has told me I have had time off and I have gone away and then while I was far overseas they decided to cancel my time off which was earned through long hours working on the ship throughout the summer months. This is not an uncommon story as there have been many other such similar stories of the office doing the exact same thing to other employees. Many are leaving the company as we speak to seek employment elsewhere.  Now since no one wants to work there they are seeking temporary overseas workers who have little to no english skills? And the company moto is "safety first", this makes no sense.
 If you value you health and sleep look elsewhere..every employee has a horror story with the crewing office such as what happened to me.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The ferry pass is a plus but more of a perk when you have dependents. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Unclear expectations, lack of managerial action, high turnover, unqualified employees, lack of recognition, reported bullying incidents with no follow up, questions around legality, transparency and practices, non inclusive, poor treatment, poor wages, poor heath care benefits, and overall managerial disengagement, arbitrary instructions. Clear nepotism. Lack of job security. 


What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic. No clear management involvement. Clear time theft. Inconsistent expectations. No clear training, despite it being referred to as “high level”. An ever rotating managerial department. Unsupportive. Tasks/implementation are rushed and ultimately have issues. Work harder, not smarter mentality. Culture afraid of change. Zero follow through. Gossip and unnecessary drama prohibits work output. Hourly employees working without OT pay has become the norm. 


What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Unnecessary chaos due to lack of addressing systemic issues by a rotating cast of management. Ongoing worry about job security. Chronic disappointment. Management choosing not to see what’s right in front of them on a daily basis.

If you are a tradesman and looking for a low stress, secure working environment this may be the job for you. Terminal Maintenance works a 4 day  34 hour work week with no shift work. Although our hourly rate ( +/- $ 36 per hour) is on par with industry the 34 hour week could be the deal breaker.  Our work day can be very disjointed, because we work around ship schedules. So if you are someone who does not like disruption when working this may be something to consider. Also a lot of our bigger projects are done at night after the ships stop sailing. Like in any large union company when asked about management the response can vary from person to person.  In my personal opinion I think we have it pretty good. Keep in mind my review pertains to Terminal Maintenance which consists of Millwrights, Welders, Electricians, Plumbers, Carpenters, Bridgman and Painters. If you are someone who is looking for a job that gives you more personal time or are wanting to finish your career in a secure slower paced environment, this may be a job to consider.

Overall, not a recommended place to work. 

The pension and vacation days, which used to be attractive are not keeping up with market trends or what employees now value.

The union-management relationship is tired. Union dues are used to defend underperforming members creating a depressing and sometimes hostile workplace for the ambitious.

Managers are not trained with the skills required to assist weak performers. It’s an unrelenting circle of frustration.

Most people are dedicated to doing their best, including assisting new employees. In some departments, there is a lack of new employee onboarding and training. Watching new employees with tremendous potential leave after only a few months is annoying.

Some departments value strong technical ability over leadership skills when they promote to management roles. Many good employees go years without performance feedback, career path guidance, or the essential leadership we all need.

There are pockets of great teams sprinkled throughout the organization. For example, some watches are great, others not so much.

If you have a choice look elsewhere for work.

New Ships being built in foreign countries is not necessarily a bad thing, unless you remember that they are being built by the lowest bidder! The Company strives for "OTP" (On Time Performance) and if that means leaving space on the car deck, so be it! They forget that the major users are the Islanders who just want to go back and forth, yet the Ships are being built for tourists to appreciate the finer things in life, like over-priced Sunshine breakfasts! The long term employees are leaving in droves as the upper management pushes hard to bring in "fresh meat"!

I was a senior officer for a number of years having joined from a well known shipping company. What I walked into shocked me and after  couple of years I realised I'd made a terrible mistake but got stuck in a comfortable rut .
In fairness, I was warned to stay away from them because of the toxic working environment and substandard management, but there you go. Incredibly poor decision making by the Management would have to go unquestioned otherwise they would simply threaten you with your job.
The culture of bullying and blame was extreme . The crews attitude was almost childlike and troublesome. Much of the Management was completely out of its depth. 
No one would run a Shipping Company as poorly as this and seriously expect a harmonious work force, efficiency and profits. A bloated beaurocracy and box ticking culture replacing any real  talent.

What is the best part of working at the company?
job security, decent pay, growth opportunity and great people to work with.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Safety, as we are carrying the most precious cargo. Maintaining ships in sound mechanical condition, day in and day out ships must sail and keep schedules, year after year. Weather conditions sometime add to stress level.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
strong safety culture, very respectful and highly professional environment

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I can’t generalize for the whole company. For me as engineer, day starts with obtaining as much information as possible and making decisions. I have to follow many procedures and go by different checklists. Reporting, and passing information is important, often critical part of my job. I have to be good working with my hands dirty, and also have to have keyboard skills and be at home in office environment.

I worked as a casual deckhand for about 2 years and unfortunately had to leave because it would likely have been another 2-3 years before I had built enough seniority for a regular position.

The summers are doable. But the winter is where things slow right down. You are expected to give too much availability for what you are promised in return, and if you go away for longer than a month for other work, you are punished by losing seniority.

The benefits were great. The wage was okay. The majority of the staff was excellent. There were a few officers who had chips on their shoulders just because they were locked into a union protected job that gave them authority. But for the most part the leadership and teamwork environment was excellent. 

I learned a lot more about seamanship during my short time at BC Ferries. If you can wait out the seniority problem, this is a great job that keeps you home and pays a livable wage. But if you need a real career in the short term, unless you have a ticket, look elsewhere. 

I worked there for 8 years, it was not bad in the beginning but it has done nothing but go down hill. I’ve worked in two different departments on the ship. The management at bc ferries get paid far too much for such little work. 
They act like they are broke until the government gives them a bailout. They spend that money in the wrong places and give themselves raises while cutting crew counts and expecting more work out of you. 

They have complete control of your schedule and where you’ll be working almost every single day. They hire just before summer and then they give you almost no work after the busy season. 
They can’t retain anyone, you will completely lose touch with yourself and miss time with your family and friends. 
Don’t work at bc ferries…

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Deckhand 24 salaries reported	$33.97 per hour
Customer service attendant 13 salaries reported	$27.74 per hour
Service attendant 13 salaries reported	$29.00 per hour
Customer service representative 2 salaries reported	$28.93 per hour
Scheduler 7 salaries reported	$35.00 per hour

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