People before ships: B.C. Ferries' new CEO discusses his priorities

There are three things almost every person in southwest British Columbia will have a take on: the weather, the Canucks, and B.C. Ferries. 

"Everyone has an opinion on how [we] should be run and why we're not running as well as we should," said Nicolas Jimenez, who one month ago became the person running B.C. Ferries as its CEO. 

"There's lots of insight from those opinions, but they come from the place that they want these things to be successful, and that in itself is something that I think we have to harness and attach ourselves to."

With 39 ferries that link communities as large as Metro Vancouver and as small as Ocean Falls (population: around 50), everyone has a slightly different complaint about B.C. Ferries depending on where they live.

Yet in recent years, the independently managed — yet provincially owned — organization has faced rougher waters than usual: staffing shortages and cancelled sailings led to the firing of former CEO Mark Collins last July, and the company has struggled to restore service levels on its ships to where they were prior to the pandemic, despite soaring ridership. 

"Everybody knows all transportation agencies were hit very, very hard through COVID and have really struggled in the recovery process," said Jimenez in his first in-depth interview since becoming CEO a month ago.

"We can't wring our hands that COVID happened. It did. And so, really, it's what we do now."

From one transportation minefield to another

Before B.C. Ferries, Jimenez was CEO of the Insurance Corporation of B.C. (ICBC), the province's public auto insurance provider — another government-owned organization dealing with a complex array of transportation questions, often maligned by the public.

"It doesn't play in water," he concedes, "but it … very much informs how I understand customer experience."

"You understand public service and the value and the expectations that our customers have of us. They're high, and they should be high."

If there was a common criticism of B.C. Ferries from insiders in recent years, it was that the organization focused so much of its energy on infrastructure — things like building new ships and upgrading terminals — at the expense of focusing on customer service and staff morale. 

It might be why Jimenez emphasized again and again that under his leadership, B.C. Ferries would focus on things other than infrastructure.  

"The immediate priority has to be people. There is absolutely no question," he said.

"It might be about boats and terminals, but fundamentally it's about people. So that is something that I want our customers to know we're investing in." 

What about the buffet?

But what does that look like on a tangible level? 

For staffing shortages, Jimenez admits that wages are stagnant, and more has to be done to keep specialized workers who want more flexibility in where and how much they work. He's also wanting to push Transport Canada to give faster approvals to recent immigrants licensed for marine work in other countries.

"They're not all going to be successful in this moment but over the long haul … we're going to see a real fundamental shift in how we think about people," he said. 

"What I'm seeing in my first couple of weeks in the company is a real willingness and openness to challenge some of our historical approaches to how we staff."

Those changes, in theory, would mean fewer staffing shortages, fewer cancellations and more consistent openings of services that have often been closed over the last three years due to a lack of staff. 

Well, at least some services. 

"We love the buffet. We love that people love the buffet," said Jimenez when asked if the Pacific Buffet would ever open again. 

"But it's challenging. We can't have a buffet if it's going to put the rest of our business at risk if we have to cancel sailings … so that's something we're looking at. We'll be able to say more on that pretty soon."

Thumbs up from union

So far, the response from B.C. Ferries' union towards Jimenez has been positive.  

"Nicholas seems to be very much different than what we are accustomed to," said Paula White, the provincial vice-president of the B.C. Ferry & Marine Workers' Union. 

"Sometimes people in those positions can be a little disconnected from the employees … but he did not seem to have that at all. So I think we are just cautiously optimistic about this change that we hope will happen. He's definitely listening."

That tune might change after a collective bargaining negotiation. However, it speaks to how in private, Jimenez is also putting a focus on people. 

Whether that style can turn around B.C. Ferries' metaphorical boat remains to be seen. But if nothing else, he relishes the challenge — and the scrutiny.  

"The ferries have an important history in this province, and it's entirely woven into our economic and social fabric," he said.

"There's a ton of potential and a ton of commitment within government, within our boards, and management to get [a recovery] done … that's something I wanted to sign up for."