VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Be prepared for full ferries if you’re heading to-and-from the islands this long weekend.

Labour Day long weekend is not as busy as BC Day or the Thanksgiving long weekend, however BC Ferries is still running at a full schedule.

“We’ve got a full summer schedule right through until Monday, so there are lots of extra sailing,” explains Deb Marshall with BC Ferries.

She says Labour Day does pose it’s own special problems for travelers.

“What we find with the Labour Day long weekend is the returning traffic spreads out between Sunday and Monday. There are some families that choose to come home on the Sunday, so that they have Monday to get kids organized for school on Tuesday,” adds Marshall.

She notes the crown corporation is also prepared for problems like we saw on the Victoria Day long weekend when the Queen of New Westminster broke down.

“We’ve got engineers working around the clock on all of our vessels to make sure we’re in tip-top shape for these peak season times.”

Be prepared for long border waits

Over 150,000 travelers are expected to cross the border this weekend.

Canada Border Services’ Faith St. John says although everyday this long weekend will be busy, Monday will see the longest waits northbound as everyone heads home.

“Crossing early in the morning or early in the afternoon is the best time to cross the border,” notes St. John. “We expect traffic will build from about 5 p.m. until as late as midnight so our best advice is cross early.”

She adds to get home quickly, make sure you have everything you need on hand.

“The best advice that I can give travelers is to make sure that they have all of their documents readily available, which includes their passport and any receipts for goods that they’ve purchased while they were out of the country.”

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