B.C. Ferries receives $1B federal bank loan for Chinese-made ships

Edzi'u Loverin · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 8:50 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

B.C. Ferries has secured a $1 cardinal indebtedness by a national Crown corp to assistance obtain four Chinese-made ships, a acquisition that national Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland precocious said should not involve federal funds.

Freeland expressed dismay astir the enactment of China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards successful a June 16 missive to B.C. Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth, and asked the province to corroborate "with utmost certainty that nary national backing will be diverted to enactment the acquisition" of caller ferries from the Chinese state-owned shipyard.

On Thursday the Canada Infrastructure Bank confirmed the indebtedness and said the province's caller electrical ferries "wouldn't apt beryllium purchased" without the financing.

B.C. Premier David Eby said B.C. Ferries went done a five-year procurement process and the vessels were "desperately needed."

"Anyone who sat connected the tarmac waiting for a ferry due to the fact that the propeller fell disconnected knows that we request to regenerate these boats and that the request is urgent," Eby said

"We person goals astir gathering Canada's economy, absolutely, and portion of it means ferries to enactment for concern to entree markets, and radical are capable to get to wherever they request to get."

B.C. Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez said in an interrogation with The Canadian Press that helium "was amazed and disappointed" by Freeland's letter, and would "have expected much engagement and dialogue" from Ottawa.

"You cognize we haven't built a ship, a ample ship, successful this state for 30 years. So there's a batch that has to hap for the home capableness to beryllium there," Jimenez told CBC's On the Island on Thursday.

"You've got to conscionable the satellite wherever it is, not wherever you privation it to beryllium successful this precise moment."

Loan volition also support electrification infrastructure

Jeff Groot, enforcement manager of communications for B.C. Ferries, said the institution signed the indebtedness with the slope earlier it was finalized that the Chinese shipyard would triumph the contract, and earlier Freeland's missive to Farnworth.

The slope said the low-cost indebtedness consists of up to $690 cardinal to bargain the vessels and up to $310 cardinal for electrification infrastructure.

Groot said "commercial realities" for some B.C. Ferries and the shipyard forestall him from talking astir the afloat size of the agreement, but added that the indebtedness volition screen a "substantial" portion of the deal. 

"It is, successful our view, a game-changing fiscal statement that has allowed america to marque this important concern successful fleet renewal," helium said. 

B.C. Ferries said the vas information of the bank's indebtedness volition correspond a maximum of 42.5 per cent of the full acquisition price. That would suggest that if the maximum $690 cardinal is spent connected the caller ferries, their minimum outgo would beryllium astir $1.6 billion.

But Groot said that was "not representative" of the cost, and determination was "flexibility to repurpose" unspent amounts connected the vas broadside of the indebtedness to screen infrastructure costs.

$650 cardinal successful savings connected interest

Jiminez besides said it was not imaginable to "reverse engineer" the outgo of the ships from the indebtedness amounts, and the indebtedness is simply a "deal maker" for B.C. Ferries and its customers.

"If we afloat workout the loan, we'd beryllium redeeming astir $650 cardinal successful involvement charges we would different person to wage if we got these loans astatine marketplace rates,"Jimenez said Thursday.

Eby said the loan brings up the contented of fairness astir national support.

He says East Coast ferries get "$300 of national enactment for each $1" B.C. Ferries receives per user.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank is accountable to Parliament done the national Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, erstwhile Vancouver politician Gregor Robertson. 

Mohammad Hussain, a spokesperson for Robertson's office, said Robertson has asked for a briefing from the bank's CEO "on the benignant of considerations this determination raises." 

Hussain called B.C. Ferries' procurement determination "extremely disappointing."

He said the slope supports cardinal infrastructure projects needed successful communities.

"While our authorities had nary power oregon information successful this procurement decision, we volition inactive stress erstwhile again the value of supporting home industry," helium said. 

B.C. Conservative Harman Bhangu, proscription professional for his party, said successful a connection that Freeland needs to "immediately" reconsider the presumption of the indebtedness to support Canadian jobs, businesses and information interests.