Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The following questions are asked a lot, hence the name FAQs, but if you have another question that is not answered here, please contact me, or leave a comment/question below, and I will pass it on to a real live BC lighthouse keeper for an answer, and post the question and answer here.
1. Can a husband and wife team be hired these days?
Yes, but only one of them will be on pay.
2. Can a wife find work on the lighthouse?
Once trained, yes, usually when the station is short one person due to holidays or medical emergencies when the other keeper must leave with his family.
3. Can a woman become a lighthouse keeper?
Yes, the PSC “promotes employment equity and encourages candidates to indicate voluntarily on their application if they are a woman” – see here.
4. If I indicate that I am a woman, does this give me more of an advantage?
No, the PSC selects each person based on knowledge, ability and personal suitability – see here.
5. If my wife and I both applied and won would we be sent to the same lighthouse?
No, there is only one principal and one assistant keeper per station, and as you would be just starting, you would be hired as an Assistant – see Job Requirements.
6. If my wife and I were sent to different lighthouses could we have time off together?
Yes, if approved by the department and if it fit in with other station leave plans.
7. Don’t you get bored or lonely on a lighthouse?
Only if you make it so. – see Don’t You Get Bored?
8. Are any BC lighthouses open as a Bed and Breakfast (B&B)?
To date (November 2011) there are twenty-seven (27) manned lighthouses on the British Columbia coast, and not one is open as a B&B. Sorry.
Re. question 1…I know of at least 2 lightstations where the husband and wife are employed as both the principal and assistant keeper respectively.
Ivan Dubinsky
Hi Ivan, I presume you are referring to the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) page. Yes, you are right, I know of one at least on Estevan Point where the husband is the principal keeper and the wife is the assistant. But, they were not both hired at the same time for those positions. The husband was hired first, and the wife applied later to become an assistant on a lighthouse and was posted to a different lighthouse. After a few years she was transferred to her husband’s lighthouse as assistant. A man and wife cannot be expected to apply and be posted to the same lighthouse.
Hope you can answer these questions for me.
If someone was the successful candidate to get the position of a light house keeper, either principle or assistant, do they get any days off? Bi-
weekly, or monthly? ( over and above their paid vacation) ?
Is there a limit to the amount of visitors one could have at their lighthouse?
Or how often you have a visitor? (personal family & friends)
Thank you for your help
Hi Chris, Lighthouse keepers in Canada work for the Canadian government. They get leave as specified in their union contracts. Most starting lightkeepers get two weeks off a year. Check out the Lightkeeper’s Agreement here: https://ccanadaht3.com/keepers/contract/#.UGFkB__MiNc In there you will find all you want to know about Anuual leave. No other leave is granted unless it is for training, injury, or things like that.
The number of visitors to a lighthouse is limited by the access to the lighthouse. If it requires a boat to get to the lighthouse, then visitors are few. If it requires hiking in, then maybe the visitors number in the thousands. Personal family and friends usually have to make their own way to the lighthouse, so it depends on finances and time off and mode of travel.
Visits are sometimes delayed or cancelled because of bad weather, fog, or lack of transportation. Each lighthouse has its own problems for access.
I hope this answers your question.