British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. BC Ferries provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Set up in 1960 to provide a similar service to that provided by the Black Ball Line and the Canadian Pacific Railway, which were affected by job action at the time, BC Ferries has become the largest passenger ferry line in North America, operating a fleet of 41 vessels with a total passenger and crew capacity of over 27,000, serving 47 locations on the B.C. coast.
The Gulf Islands is a group of islands in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia.
Queen Charlotte Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It connects Queen Charlotte Sound with Johnstone Strait and Discovery Passage and via them to the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound. It forms part of the Inside Passage from Washington to Alaska. The term Queen Charlotte Strait is also used to refer to the general region and its many communities, notably of the Kwakwakaʼwakw peoples. Despite its name, Queen Charlotte Strait does not lie between Haida Gwaii and the mainland; that body of water is named Hecate Strait.
Knight Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast, and the largest of the major inlets in the southern part of the Coast. It is fifth in sequence of the great saltwater inlets north from the 49th parallel near Vancouver, but it is the first whose outflow points away from the Strait of Georgia, opening into Queen Charlotte Strait at the Kwakwakaʼwakw community of Memkumlis on Village Island.
Kingcome Inlet is one of the lesser principal fjords of the British Columbia Coast, north and east of Broughton Island. It is sixth in sequence of the major saltwater fjords north from the 49th parallel near Vancouver and similar in width, on average 2.5 km (1.6 mi), to longer inlets such as Knight Inlet and Bute Inlet, but it is only 35 km (22 mi) in length from the mouth of the Kingcome River to Sutlej Channel, which ultimately connects around Broughton Island to the main regional waterway of the Queen Charlotte Strait. Kingcome Inlet has a short side inlet, Wakeman Sound, fed by the Wakeman River.
Broughton Archipelago Provincial Park is the largest marine provincial park located in British Columbia, Canada. The park is located in the Queen Charlotte Strait around 30 km east of Port McNeill, a town situated on Vancouver Island. In terms of its functions, the park offers tourism opportunities such as kayaking and whale watching, preserves a wide array of wildlife including many at-risk species, and has a long history of use by First Nation peoples.
Cormorant Channel Marine Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located in the Pearse Islands, a small archipelago to the east of Cormorant Island and the Village of Alert Bay at the western end of Johnstone Strait.
The Regional District of Mount Waddington (RDMW) is a regional district in British Columbia. It takes in the lower Central Coast region centred on the Queen Charlotte Strait coast of northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining parts of mainland British Columbia. It has a total land area of 20,288.4 km2 and a 2016 census population of 11,035 persons, most of which is in towns on Vancouver Island and adjoining islands. The administrative centre is in the town of Port McNeill. Other municipalities include the district municipality of Port Hardy, the village of Port Alice, and the village of Alert Bay.
Ḵwiḵwa̱sut'inux̱w Ha̱xwa'mis, formerly the Kwicksutaineuk-ah-kwa-mish First Nation is a First Nations band government based on northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, in the Queen Charlotte Strait region. It is a member of the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council, along with the ‘Namgis First Nation and the Tsawataineuk First Nation. The Kwikwasut'inuxw and Haxwa'mis are two of the many subgroups of the peoples known as Kwakwaka'wakw, which has two meanings: "smoke of the world" or "beach at the north side of the river."
West Redonda Island is an island in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Discovery Islands, an archipelago between Vancouver Island and the mainland, and between the Strait of Georgia and Johnstone Strait.
Broughton Strait is a strait off the north coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, separating that island from Malcolm and Cormorant Islands, on the farther side of which is the larger Queen Charlotte Strait, which also lies beyond the western end of Broughton Strait, and the mouth of Knight Inlet. Farther east from Broughton Strait is the beginning of Johnstone Strait, which leads via Discovery Passage to the Strait of Georgia.
Tribune Channel is a channel or strait on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, separating Gilford Island on the west and north from the mainland. The channel bends around Gilford Island, with the mouth of Thompson Sound at the elbow of the bend, opening eastwards to the mouth of the Kakweiken River.
The Pearse Islands are a small group of islands in the Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada. They are just east of Cormorant Island, which is the location of the Village of Alert Bay. Cormorant Channel Marine Provincial Park is located in this group of islands.
Broughton Island is an island in the Broughton Archipelago of the Queen Charlotte Strait area of the Central Coast of British Columbia, northwest of Gilford Island.
Turnour Island is an island in the Johnstone Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, located between Gilford Island and West Cracroft Island. On the other side Canoe Passage on its northwest is Village Island, while to its south and southwest is Beware Passage, across from which is Harbledown Island. Gilford Island is to the north across Tribune Channel. Separating Turnour from West Cracroft is Clio Channel.
East Cracroft Island is an island in the Johnstone Strait region of the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is the smaller of the two Cracroft Islands, and at low tide is really one island with its larger neighbour, West Cracroft Island. On the south side of the shallows that form an isthmus between them at low tide is Port Harvey, a short, wide inlet or bay. On its east shore is Keecekiltum Indian Reserve No. 2, which is under the governance of the Tlowitsis Nation of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples. at 50°33′00″N126°16′00″W.
Call Inlet is an inlet on the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada, located south of the lower reaches of Knight Inlet to the east of East Cracroft Island. Pawala Indian Reserve No. 5 is at the head of the inlet. Chatham Channel connects the outlet of the inlet to Knight Inlet and separates East Cracroft Island from the mainland peninsula on the north side of the inlet. Havannah Channel leads southwest out of the inlet, south and east around East Cracroft and past Hull Island, to Johnstone Strait.
Drury inlet is an inlet in the Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, extending west from Wells Passage to the northwest of North Broughton Island, northwest of the town of Port Hardy. Branching off to the northeast from the north side of the head of the inlet is Actaeon Sound.
Bonwick Island is an island in the Broughton Archipelago in Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The archipelago is on the northeast side of Queen Charlotte Strait and lies northwest of the village of Alert Bay and immediately to the west of Gilford Island, separated from it by Retreat Pass. Arrow Passage is to its northwest, separating it from Mars Island.
The Burdwood Group Conservancy is a conservancy located in the Broughton Archipelago in Mount Waddington Regional District, British Columbia. It was established by BC Parks on 13 March 2009 to protect a unique cluster of forested islands and islets situated at the entrance to Tribune Channel.
