Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

So an update, things are all go my work permit has been approved so I am looking at flying out of UK on 5th November into 2 weeks self isolation. The issues I need to sort are my dog (Milo) I have a quote to Vancouver but I will be isolating in Victoria so need to get him transferred (I’ve had a quote for this but it is almost as expensive as the quote from UK to Vancouver 😢😢) or hire a vehicle large enough to take him and us from Vancouver to Victoria on the Ferry. The other issue is a little easier and that is accommodation for self isolation, I am thinking of going for an air BnB, with support from my cousin dropping shopping to us. Has anyone had any experience or heard of any recently with newbies in the current situation?

Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

Have you considered whether you can get from Vancouver to Victoria by car and ferry without stopping ANYWHERE??

The BC authorities still want you to isolate for 14 days on arrival without going into grocery stores, eating in a cafe or restaurant (eg, on the ferry), or overnighting.

Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

You can hire a vehicle still, provided you then go directly to your place of quarantine, I presume provided they book the ferry in advance (and wear a mask while on it) they should be allowed to travel.. they can check here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/t...ed-by-covid-19
The OP may need to consider asking the cousin to collect the dog and transport it to Van Island .. transfers for the dog may not be possible in November, depending on the temperatures.. many airlines won't allow transfers after a certain date/ temperature.. (and very expensive, regardless).

Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

Welcome to Victoria, BC. Been here for a while and it's a great little place, far from perfect but hopefully you'll like it. Good luck finding a place to live with your dog.

Not sure if you can get to Victoria on the ferry if you're supposed to be quarantined for 14 days, there are federal regulations that prevent you staying in your car during the ride.

Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

I'm aware of the renting/leasing a car etc. I was thinking more of the following ........

When the flight got in vs time of last ferry, remembering that the ferry terminal is ca 30 minutes drive from the airport, and ca 35 minutes from the terminal on the other end to Victoria.

If the flight is late or they are delayed, so they miss the ferry that they have reserved on, then how will they get across. If you miss your reservation time, then you go into the waiting line for the next ferry ........... what if the last ferry was the one they miss or is full?

The weather .......... this is the time of Pacific storm after storm, and the ferries to and from the mainland and Victoria are often delayed/cancelled because of high winds. I get notices 2 or 3 times a week re delayed or suspended ferries at this time of year.

If they can stay in the car or not .... that depends on whether the car is put on a closed or "open" deck, ie one with open "windows" to the outside. If on a closed deck, the ferry corporation has now reverted back to government regulations that all passengers must leave their cars and go to the upper passenger levels. If the latter, they may be able to stay in their car although tis is still somewhat "iffy at the moment.

Will they have enough food to last them from the airport to Victoria ......... no going in grocery stores OR presumably to the cafeteria on the ferry.

Is being on the passenger level considered breaking the quarantine law?

Can they arrange to have necessary items such as food delivered to wherever they are staying before they arrive?

Finally, either the BC or Federal officials at the airport could say that these arrangements do not fit, and will insist that quarantine occurs before going to the island.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

I moved this part of your thread to a new thread on the main Canada forum as it's not Immigration related (we try to keep the Immi forum just for immigration / citizenship questions)..
Hope you get the move over sorted - don't forget to include the dog on your 'goods accompanying / goods to follow' list (depending how it's arriving). - more on this (and moving generally) in our wiki : https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categ...gistics-Canada
:)

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

+1 to this.
We arrived in May and hired a car to get to our destination. However there are some odd issues around that....

Do you rent it for a day or do you rent it for two weeks and have it sitting outside doing nothing (given that you can't go anywhere). If for a day how do you return it, given that you have to go straight to your accommodation and not go anywhere thereafter. One option is to get someone else to return it (after disinfecting it) but that requires that they be registered at the time of rental.

Tips:
1. You can set up an account with Save On Food for online grocery shopping and delivery BEFORE you travel to Canada. So you can actually place an order scheduled for delivery on the evening you arrive/next day (they accept overseas credit cards).
2. We had a relative stock the fridge before we arrived which was even better.
3. If you need to communicate with people then getting someone to arrange local pay as you go sim cards is very useful to avoid huge roaming changes on a UK/Other phone. Alternatively if the the accommodation has Internet you can make Skype etc online calls.
4. On arrival in Vancouver your hound will be in its crate at the oversized luggage location. When you have cleared immigration and customs and exited into the arrivals area you can go out the main doors and across the road (towards the carpark/car rental locations) and there is a small dog toilet area.
5. One thing our shipping/moving co didn't tell us is that you need individual values for all the items you ship. We had insured the shipment for X amount total so we didn't write down the individual item values on our list... which we then needed when we arrived at customs.

I hope you have had some luck finding an AirB&B that will accept pet. We have been looking to relocate the the Island (we are in the Fraser Valley at the moment) for a few months in order to better look for somewhere to buy but can't find any ABnB that will take a dog.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

:goodpost:
Great post, thanks for the useful info!

Try Home to Go instead of Air bnb, they gather info from all the different websites. Booking.com is another that has 'Covid' deals. or VRBO There are quite a few that allow pets. (VRBO seem to have the many deals)

As to car hire, If you use Enterprise / Budget or one of the others, they have branches on Vancouver Island.. so you could ask them if they could collect it, perhaps. https://www.enterprise.ca/en/car-rental/one-way.html

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

Just another example of the problems with the ferry system here.

I got a Ferries Service Notice last night................ one of the ferries servicing the mainland and Nanaimo, which is in the middle of the island, has developed some major mechanical problem and was taken out of service yesterday. There is currently no information on how long it will take, and 2 other ferries are undergoing refits, meaning some cuts in service are necessary for "the time being".

Ferries still in service have been reorganised and one taken off the route from the Mainland to Victoria (the route the OP wants to take), this means that one departure to Victoria today has been cancelled.

The Ferry corporation will refund fares paid by those who have reserved and will attempt to contact everyone involved so they can make alternate plans, or get on the next sailing if possible.


It is not that I dislike the ferry, in fact I love them although I would not take one at the moment unless we had some sort of urgent need to get to the Island. However, there are always problems that can occur that people who do not live here are often unaware of.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

Did you by chance try calling Pacific Coastal Airlines?

It's been a few years since I used them, but their cargo rates last time I used them were pretty fair for live animals, looks like they only have 2 flights per day between YVR and Victoria, but if you haven't might be worth contacting and asking them.

It might even be possible for the dog to be transferred from the main terminal to South Terminal, but it all depends on what airline you are originating with and if Pacific Coastal has any interline agreements in place with said airline.

Harbor Air as well, they may accept dogs as cargo.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

Enterprise were good, that was who we used.

OP, if you hire a car make sure to get a large enough one. The dog crate takes up a large amount of space, plus you have all your luggage.

Travel to the island by ferry, with a dog is fine. We have done it four times since we arrived. The problem is going to be you (being in quarantine and required to leave your car). I would try to contact BC ferries to ask what you are supposed to do.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

https://www.bcferries.com/in-the-com...avirus-disease
You can request upper deck when booking - explain why (it's ultimately up to the loading person when you drive on, so perhaps have a copy of the written confirmation with a note attached explaining why, so you can remain in your vehicle).

You may be able to book online:https://www.bcferries.com/travel-boa...icle-car-truck

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

You have to book reservations online, it is slightly cheaper to do it more than 2 or 3 days in advance. You have to arrive at the terminal between 60 and 30 minutes before the sailing time ........... if you arrive early, you will not be allowed to proceed through unless there is lots of parking area, if you arrive late you will not be allowed to enter the reserved line-up but have to take your chance with all the others.

Finally if there has to be a ferry substitution or cancellation, you MIGHT be moved to the next available ferry or not.

The reservation system is good, we always use it even we're going on the Duke Point run which is always much quieter than the Victoria ferries, but it does have its problems.

There are still ferry delays and substitutions at the moment because of the problem I mentioned in a previous post.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

Sorry I put in the wrong place. Thanks for all the comments and feedback much appreciated.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

No apologies necessary - it was just a 'split' off from your orignal post :D

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

Just another warning ................. the same ferry that was out of action about 10 days ago, is out of action once again, with a different mechanical problem as of today. They're providing notice day-by-day, with no indication as to how long it will be out of service.

Although this ferry is not on the Vancouver-Victoria run, its absence means that a ferry is being diverted from the Victoria run to replace the disabled ferry.

If you are still thinking of taking the ferry, do keep checking on the ferry site

bcferries.com

Service notices, schedules, booking, reservation, etc.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

I will be heading back to the island from the UK in the next month or two. As part of the requirements, I was hoping to quarantine in my flat on the island, but am I allowed to travel to Victoria from Vancouver using the ferry? I know you are not allowed to stay in the car during travel but just wanted to know if anyone has done this and what their actual experience was like. Thanks.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

Under the current rules, yes, you are allowed to take public transit including internal flights as long as you take the fastest route to your destination. If you have residence on the island then aside of renting a helicopter, I'm not sure how you would really get there without using some form of public transportation.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

New regulations will come into effect on Feb 3rd that will require that incoming passengers take a test at the arrival airport, and then isolate for 3 days at a government approved hotel, at a cost of around $2,000 pp (to cover the cost of the test, room, all food, private security cost, and a charge for the hotel to cover the extra costs involved in serving isolating guests). The room has to be pre-booked by the passenger.

f the test is negative, the passenger is then allowed to move on to quarantine in approved accommodation for the next 11 days. Regular in-person checks will be made by a private security company (paid for by the feds) during that time to ensure that quarantine rules are upheld, and there will also be regular phone checks by the health authority as to the health.

If the test returns positive, the passenger will be moved to a federal run quarantine, with all costs covered by the feds.

Some of the details for this programme are still being worked out as it only came into effect yesterday.

https://www.canada.ca/en/transport-c...al-travel.html

IF these regulations are still in effect when you travel then you will not be allowed to travel immediately, and the authorities might well not approve a plan to move to the Island for the self-isolation as that requires you to travel on public transport and I think all passengers now have to leave their cars while on the ferry.

One of the reasons why I think (and it is only my opinion) that the regulations might be in effect for longer is that we have a lack of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna (the only 2 accepted by Health Canada up to now) which has meant an almost complete halt to vaccinations. Pfizer delivery is supposed to resume next week, but almost certainly not in the required quantities.

If the Feds believe that a) infection rates are still high in foreign countries, and b) vaccination rates here are still far too low, then I think it is possible that the new regulations may well be extended.


Also note that BC has stated that non-essential travel between Health Regions (eg Vancouver Health and Island Health) is restricted and should not be undertaken.

Of course people are still making non-essential trips (eg to Whistler) .......... but it would be up to the Officer at the airport to decide whether you could travel from there to the Island without first isolating.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

As per previous post the rules have just changed and you will have to quarantine for at least 3 days in a hotel at your expense.

Re the ferries - actually if you arrive early, you should be able to get on the upper deck, in which case you are allowed to stay in your vehicle.

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

They haven't changed yet. Testing on arrival starts from 4th February but has already started in Toronto. The hotel quarantine will be introduced at some point in the next few weeks.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/corona...nada-1.5292426

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

So been a while, We are finally here (well we arrived 9th November) we did all we had to and drove our selves across to self isolation for 2 weeks and are now living in Langford. Working in uptown and having a ball, thanks for all the help and answers to my questions now to be a little more active on here and give something back. 😊 🙏🏻

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

That's really good to hear. If you miss any UK foods/snacks, make sure to check out Market on Millstream, they have a really large selection of UK goodies. I went there many times when I was missing Digestives, Walker crisps or Cadburys chocolates!

I am looking at coming back to Victoria soon, and apparently after the 3 day hotel quarantine, you can take a connecting flight rather than the ferry. That's the plan, but making plans these days during Covid times seems precarious at the moment! :)

Re: Arriving Vancouver transfer to Van Island, with dog, advice :)
 

If the Market on Millstream is anything like the Market on Yates then the British section might have been recently reduced, but London Drugs, Walmart and Save on Foods have decent enough British sections.

Welcome to Victoria, I hope you like it here.