Recent changes to the Canadian Federal government’s New Building Canada Fund (NBCF) aim at enabling significant investments in infrastructure systems, including ferry replacement and refits, paving way for ferry owners, operators and shipbuilders to benefit from this initiative.
Ferry operators across Canada will be given access to the fund that may inject billions of dollars of transportation infrastructure projects, providing the proposed projects be completed within a three-year timeframe.
Specifically, the 2014 New Building Canada Fund is one component within the overall USD 53 billion 2014 New Building Canada Plan (NBCP). It is a USD 14-billion fund to support projects of national, regional and local significance.
Under the program, the federal government also plans on funding projects delivered as “Public-Private Partnership” (P3).
Canadian Ferry Operator Association (CFOA) members and Canadian shipyards are in a position to benefit from this initiative, especially due to the fact that many ferries in the country are beyond the age of economic repair and their replacement is needed.
The original eligibility criteria for the fund excluded most projects related to ferries. Very few operators have been able to apply for crucial infrastructure projects and this, in turn, has penalized the close to 55 million passengers, 32,000 employees and countless communities served by operators, as explained by Canadian Ferry Operators Association (CFOA).
Commenting on the changes to NBCF that were announced by Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohl, Serge Buy, CFOA’s Chief Executive Officer said: “Minister Sohi and the new government understand the importance of ferries for Canadians. Access to the New Building Canada Fund will enable operators to make crucial investments that will benefit passengers and the communities served by ferries. Furthermore, the investments will help operators ensure safety on their vessels while also making sustainable improvements to their environmental efficiency”.
With operators located from coast to coast to coast, this will help to create employment throughout the country, benefit businesses that supply goods and services to ferry operators and boost the communities served by ferries, CFOA says.
Prompted by the latest government move, Davie Shipbuilding plans to offer a program designed to build Canada’s next ferry fleet under a newly-launched ferry replacement initiative.
“Davie is h ighly experienced with the P3 contractual model – our current program for the Royal Canadian Navy has created a new alternative ownership model for the federal government using Canadian institutional financing, which can be easily applied to Canada’s ferry fleet. By bringing private investment into financing structures together with the federal, provincial and municipal governments, we can create significant benefits and flexibility for the taxpayer,” Gerry Neven, Davie’s VP Commercial said.