Moving Within BC From Vancouver
Moving within BC from Vancouver is its own kind of move, and Always Best Moving Vancouver has been doing it since 2010. Victoria, Nanaimo, Kelowna, Kamloops, Prince George, and every smaller town in between. We are based downtown at 422 Richards Street, we run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and every in-province move starts with a clear, no-obligation quote agreed up front and put in writing before we start. Staying inside BC does not make the move simple. It makes it a route problem.
Free moving quote
Where BC Moves From Vancouver Actually Go
Door to door it is 113.6 kilometres and about 2 hours 58 minutes, because the ferry carries most of it. The truck leaves downtown over the Cambie and Oak Street bridges, runs Highway 99 through the George Massey Tunnel, then Highway 17A onto Highway 17 into Tsawwassen. The crossing to Swartz Bay is about 1 hour 35 minutes. Then it is 27 kilometres down the Patricia Bay Highway into Victoria.
Vancouver to Victoria
Door to door it is 113.6 kilometres and about 2 hours 58 minutes, because the ferry carries most of it. The truck leaves downtown over the Cambie and Oak Street bridges, runs Highway 99 through the George Massey Tunnel, then Highway 17A onto Highway 17 into Tsawwassen. The crossing to Swartz Bay is about 1 hour 35 minutes. Then it is 27 kilometres down the Patricia Bay Highway into Victoria.
Vancouver to Nanaimo
Door to door, 83.7 kilometres and about 2 hours 23 minutes. Two vehicle routes serve it. Tsawwassen to Duke Point runs 2 hours on the water. Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay is roughly 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours by the posted times. Which one we use changes your pickup time, so we settle it when we quote.
Vancouver to Kelowna
389.9 kilometres, about 3 hours 56 minutes. Out East Hastings to the Cassiar Connector, Highway 1 over the Port Mann Bridge and through the Fraser Valley to Hope, a short stretch of Highway 3, then Highway 5 over the Coquihalla and through the Great Bear Snowshed. Highway 97C carries the truck over Pennask Summit, and Highway 97 brings it across the William R. Bennett Floating Bridge into town.
Vancouver to Kamloops
354.1 kilometres, about 3 hours 26 minutes. Highway 1 for roughly 142 kilometres, then 184 kilometres of Highway 5 past the same snowshed. It is the shortest Interior run and the most likely to finish in a single day.
Vancouver to Prince George
787.9 kilometres, about 8 hours 36 minutes. The fastest route is not the Coquihalla. It is Highway 1 up the Fraser Canyon, through the Yale, Saddle Rock, Sailor Bar, Alexandra, Hells Gate, Ferrabee and China Bar tunnels, over the Alexandra Bridge to Cache Creek, then Highway 97, the Cariboo Highway, through Williams Lake and Quesnel and over the Simon Fraser Bridge.
The Ferry Leg, Rule by Rule
If your move crosses to Vancouver Island, the ferry is the part that can go wrong, and almost none of it is about the water. A standard vehicle on BC Ferries is under 7 feet high and less than 20 feet long. Every moving truck and cube van clears 7 feet, so a loaded move sits in the oversize band and gets different deck placement than a family car.
Booking is stricter than people expect. On the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo route, all customers travelling by vehicle must book and pay in advance, and drive-up is gone. Commercial vehicles, meaning over 5,500 kg registered GVW for booking purposes, cannot book Saver fares, and the over-height promotion does not apply to commercial travel either. Commercial Saver bookings are made and paid online in advance, are not sold at drive-up ticket booths, apply only on Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen to Duke Point, and do not cover vehicles over nine feet wide.
What You Pack Decides What The Truck Can Legally Carry
This is the trap on in-province moves, and it starts before the truck reaches a highway. The Tunnel Transportation of Dangerous Commodities Regulation covers both the George Massey Tunnel and the Cassiar Connector Tunnel. The Victoria run goes through the first one. The Interior run goes through the second. Through those tunnels, propane carried as cargo is capped at 45 kg gross weight per vehicle with a 4.5 kg container limit, and propane as a vehicle accessory is capped at 45 kg gross with a 22 kg container limit. Gasoline is capped at 385 litres or 450 kg gross in approved containers, and no tank vehicles are permitted. Liquefied hydrogen, trichloroethylene and most poisonous gases and liquids are not allowed through at all.
On the ferry the rules stack on top. Dangerous goods have to be declared before travel, either by ticking the box when booking online or by telling the ticket agent, terminal attendant or vessel officer on arrival, and declared goods check in 45 minutes before departure at major terminals and 30 minutes at the others. For a personal vehicle, propane is one cylinder not over 18.9 litres, or up to three 1 litre cylinders if nothing else propane is aboard. Tanks must be closed and tagged before boarding, upright and securely attached, and never on a passenger deck. Gasoline is one approved 25 litre container, properly secured. Fireworks, damaged electric vehicles and butane camping fuel are prohibited.
So the barbecue tank, the jerrycan and the camp stove canisters are the real conversation. We ask about them when we quote, not on the sidewalk on move day. Anything that cannot travel goes out with our junk removal crew.
Winter, The Coquihalla, And What The Law Requires
From October 1 to April 30, winter tires or chains are required on most BC routes. On select highways that do not run through mountain passes or high snowfall areas, the requirement ends March 31 instead. Designated routes are marked with regulatory signs posted throughout the province, and those signs are the instruction that counts. A legal winter tire needs at least 3.5 mm of tread and either the M+S label, which is the legal minimum, or the three-peaked mountain and snowflake symbol, which the Province recommends. Summer tires are not permitted in the designated winter months, and chains on summer tires are not an acceptable substitute.
For trucks the rule is heavier. Commercial vehicles between 5,000 kg and 11,794 kg licensed GVW must carry chains or acceptable traction devices unless they run winter-rated tires bearing the three-peaked mountain and snowflake or M+S symbol, and that band may use cable chains, automatic tire chains, wheel sanders or textile tire covers instead. Commercial vehicles at 11,794 kg licensed GVW and above must carry steel chains on most major highways, because steel link chains hold traction and stop lateral slippage. Enforcement is real: Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement runs road checks and weigh scales year round, backed by the RCMP, and a driver can be penalised for bypassing an active chain up area or for not carrying chains where they are required. Non-compliant drivers can be turned away.
The mountains behind those rules are not theoretical. Coquihalla Pass sits at 1,244 m and Pennask Summit on the Okanagan Connector reaches 1,728 m, higher than Rogers Pass at 1,327 m. The corridor takes about 1,350 mm of precipitation a year, 1,150 mm of it as snow, with an average annual peak snowpack of 235 cm. Snowfall there can exceed 10 cm an hour, and in February 2014 ten storm systems dropped 294 cm in 15 days. The Coquihalla Protocol activates when more than 15 to 20 cm over 12 hours, or freezing rain, is forecast. The pass is also warmer than other high summits, which sounds like good news and is not, because melt and freeze cycles are what make the ice.
None of that is a reason to avoid a winter move. It is why we plan the departure around the corridor and keep your dates honest. If you are still comparing companies, our guide on how to choose a mover covers the questions worth asking before you book any BC route.
Why Some BC Moves Are One Day And Some Are Two
This is the question people ask last and should ask first. BC hours-of-service rules cap a commercial driver at 13 hours of driving in a day, stop driving after 14 hours on duty, and require a minimum 10 hours off duty daily. Driving also stops after 16 hours of total elapsed work-shift time. Drivers run a cycle on top of that: no driving after 70 on-duty hours in 7 days, or after 120 in 14 days.
Put the drive times against that and the answer writes itself. Kamloops at 3 hours 26 minutes and Kelowna at 3 hours 56 minutes leave room for a load, a drive and an unload in one day. Prince George at 8 hours 36 minutes does not, not with a two-bedroom home on either end. That is the real reason some BC moves are quoted as two days.
How We Plan A BC Move
We start with the route, not the truck. Both addresses go in, the crossing or the pass comes out, and the loading window gets built backwards from whichever is fixed. On a ferry route that is the sailing. On a winter Interior route it is the daylight and the forecast. Then we go through the garage list, because propane and fuel decide what can legally ride.
From there it is the same work as any local move, just with a longer middle: pads and wrap on everything, a real inventory, and the same crew loading and unloading. If the new place is not ready, our storage holds the load in a monitored warehouse until it is, and our packing service can do the boxes the day before so the truck is not waiting on a kitchen.
A 4.9-star record across 102 reviews
“On time, careful with every piece, and the price was exactly what they quoted. They rebuilt the bed and placed everything by room.”
“Booked the elevator, pulled the parking permit, and wrapped everything. A downtown move with zero stress.”
“Answered the phone at night when I called last minute. Same crew start to finish, and they took the paper away after.”
Frequently asked questions
How long does a move from Vancouver to Victoria take?
Door to door it is about 113.6 kilometres and roughly 2 hours 58 minutes, because the ferry does most of the work. The Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay crossing runs about 1 hour 35 minutes on its own. Loading and unloading sit on top, so most Victoria moves are still a full working day.
How far is Vancouver to Kelowna for a move?
389.9 kilometres and about 3 hours 56 minutes by the Province’s own route planner. The run goes out on Highway 1 to Hope, up Highway 5 over the Coquihalla, across Highway 97C over Pennask Summit, then Highway 97 into Kelowna.
Can a Vancouver to Prince George move be done in one day?
Realistically no. It is 787.9 kilometres and about 8 hours 36 minutes of driving before anyone touches a box. BC hours-of-service rules cap a driver at 13 hours of driving and stop driving after 14 hours on duty, so loading, the drive and unloading do not fit in one legal day. We plan it as a two-day move and say so up front.
Does the moving truck have to be booked on the ferry in advance?
For the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo run, yes. BC Ferries requires all customers travelling by vehicle in that direction to book and pay in advance, and drive-up is gone. Commercial Saver bookings are also made online in advance only and are not sold at drive-up ticket booths.
Is a moving truck treated as an oversized vehicle on BC Ferries?
Yes. BC Ferries counts a standard vehicle as under 7 feet high and less than 20 feet long. Every moving truck and cube van clears 7 feet, so it sits in the oversize band and gets different deck placement. Commercial vehicles also cannot book Saver fares, and the over-height promotion does not apply to commercial travel.
What can I not put on the truck for a BC move?
Propane, fuel, fireworks and butane camping fuel are the usual problems. On BC Ferries, fireworks, damaged electric vehicles and butane camping fuel are prohibited outright, and any dangerous goods must be declared before travel. Vancouver routes also run through the George Massey Tunnel and the Cassiar Connector, which have their own limits on propane and gasoline. Tell us what is in the garage before move day.
Do winter tires or chains matter for a move to the Interior?
They decide whether the truck gets through. Winter tires or chains are required on most BC routes from October 1 to April 30, and on select highways outside mountain passes the requirement ends March 31. Commercial vehicles between 5,000 kg and 11,794 kg licensed GVW must carry chains or acceptable traction devices unless they run winter-rated tires. At 11,794 kg and above, steel chains are required on most major highways.
What happens if the highway closes on move day?
It is a real possibility on the passes. Snowfall on the Coquihalla can exceed 10 centimetres an hour, and the RCMP can turn vehicles away when conditions are unsafe. We keep the plan flexible on both ends, watch the corridor before the truck rolls, and call you rather than gamble with your furniture.
Do you move to smaller BC towns, not just the big cities?
Yes. Victoria, Nanaimo, Kelowna, Kamloops and Prince George are the common runs, but anywhere the provincial highway network reaches is in scope. Give us both addresses and we plan the real route, ferry or pass included.
How much does it cost to move within BC from Vancouver?
It depends on the size of the home, the access at both ends, and the route the truck has to take. Give us both addresses, the rough inventory and your dates, and you get a clear, no-obligation quote agreed up front and put in writing before we start.
Tell us both addresses, roughly what is coming, and your dates. We come back with the route, the crossing or the pass it uses, whether it is a one-day or two-day job, and a no-obligation quote in writing before you commit. If the move leaves the province, our long distance movers handle that side. Same downtown base, same crew, every area we serve.
Real route data, honest timelines, one written quote agreed up front.
Areas We Serve
Other Moving Services
Long Distance Movers Vancouver · Local Movers Vancouver · Shared Moving Vancouver · Packing & Unpacking · Storage Facility Vancouver
Areas we serve across Vancouver
We load and unload across Vancouver, from Downtown and the West End to Mount Pleasant. See every area we serve.
Want the bigger picture? Browse all our moving services.
Ready to book your move?
Get a free quote with the plan and the price agreed before we start.