Can You Bring Cannabis on BC Ferries

Yes, you can bring cannabis on BC Ferries. Adults 19 and older can legally travel with up to 30 grams of dried cannabis or equivalent on BC Ferries routes. This applies to the Horseshoe Bay to Langdale route that connects Vancouver to the Sunshine Coast, which is the ferry most relevant to our Sechelt location. There are a few rules that matter.

The Rules on Board

You can have cannabis in your possession while travelling on BC Ferries. You cannot consume it. BC Ferries operates a completely smoke-free and vape-free policy across all of its vessels and terminal property, and that policy explicitly extends to the inside of your own vehicle while it is parked on the car deck.

This is the part people misunderstand most often. Being inside a private car feels like private space, so it seems reasonable to assume a quick vape hit while parked on the lower deck would go unnoticed and is not really BC Ferries' business. It is. The car deck is BC Ferries property and the no-smoking, no-vaping policy applies to every vehicle on it regardless of who owns the vehicle or whether the windows are up. Crew do patrol the car deck during sailings, and being caught vaping or smoking in your vehicle can result in being flagged for that sailing or refused service on future ones.

If you are bringing cannabis as a passenger without a vehicle, keep it sealed in your bag or luggage. If you are travelling with a vehicle, keep it in the car, unused, the same way you would treat any other sealed product you are transporting. There is no security screening for cannabis at ferry terminals the way there is at airports, but that does not change the possession and consumption rules, and it does not mean nobody is paying attention.

Crossing the Border vs Crossing the Water

BC Ferries routes are domestic travel entirely within British Columbia. You are not crossing an international border. The possession rules are the standard BC provincial rules, not any enhanced airport-style restrictions. Cannabis cannot be transported across international borders, including the US border and international airports. But every BC Ferries route, including Horseshoe Bay to Langdale and Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay or the Southern Gulf Islands, is domestic travel within Canada, and cannabis is entirely legal to have with you under the same 30 gram limit.

The Tsawwassen terminal serves the routes to Victoria and the Gulf Islands, and the same possession and no-consumption rules apply there as on the Horseshoe Bay routes. Whether you are heading to Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, or the Sunshine Coast, the underlying rule does not change: legal to carry, not legal to use on board.

Buying Before or After the Ferry

If you are heading to the Sunshine Coast and want to stock up before you go, our two Vancouver locations are both easy to reach before catching the ferry. The Vancouver (2 Locations) is two minutes from Granville SkyTrain. If you are coming from West Vancouver, Horseshoe Bay is only a short drive and you can plan a stop at either Vancouver location on the way.

If you prefer to shop once you arrive, our Sechelt store is the only licensed cannabis dispensary on the Sunshine Coast, located on Highway 101 in Sechelt. It is about 20 minutes north of the Langdale Ferry Terminal by car.