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Transport Committee to Probe $1B Loan for BC Ferries’ Chinese-Built Fleet

Testimony within 30 days will scrutinize the loan’s economic and security implications

The BC Ferries vessel Island Nagalis arrives in Campbell River, B.C., from Quadra Island in October, 2024. BC Ferries provides passenger and vehicle ferry services for the province’s coastal and island communities.
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Overview

  • The House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities voted unanimously to launch a study of the $1 billion Canada Infrastructure Bank loan that financed BC Ferries’ contract with China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards.
  • The committee has scheduled hearings within 30 days and will summon Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland, Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson and the chief executives of BC Ferries and the Canada Infrastructure Bank to testify.
  • The Canada Infrastructure Bank provided the below-market $1 billion loan in March and said the ferries “wouldn’t likely be purchased” without its financing.
  • Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland sent a “dismayed” letter on June 20 demanding that BC Ferries address potential security risks and confirm that no other federal funding was diverted.
  • Critics including Conservative MP Dan Albas and B.C. Premier David Eby have condemned the outsourcing of Canadian shipbuilding and pointed to unequal federal support for West Coast ferry services.