MV Nicola is an N-class ferry, owned, but not operated by BC Ferries. It is also known as Spirit of Lax Kw' Alaams, a British Columbia First Nations name. Spirit of Lax Kw' Alaams currently runs between Prince Rupert and Port Simpson, a British Columbia First Nations community on British Columbia's North Coast. Overnight the vessel is kept at the Smit tugboat dock in Prince Rupert Harbour.

British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. BC Ferries provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Set up in 1960 to provide a similar service to that provided by the Black Ball Line and the Canadian Pacific Railway, which were affected by job action at the time, BC Ferries has become the largest passenger ferry line in North America, operating a fleet of 41 vessels with a total passenger and crew capacity of over 27,000, serving 47 locations on the B.C. coast.