Federal bank loaning $1B for BC Ferries to buy Chinese-made ships
The BC Ferries vessel Island Nagalis, an island-class ferry used to service Quadra Island, arrives in Campbell River, B.C., Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A federal Crown corporation is loaning BC Ferries $1 billion to help buy four Chinese-made ferries, a purchase that federal transport minister Chrystia Freeland recently said was dismaying and should involve no federal funds.
Canada Infrastructure Bank confirmed the loan on Thursday, saying the new electric ferries 'wouldn't likely be purchased' without the financing.
It says the low-cost loan consists of up to $690 million to buy the vessels and up to $310 million for electrification infrastructure.
Freeland wrote to the province on June 16, asking B.C. to confirm 'with utmost certainty' that no federal funds would be 'diverted' to the purchase from China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards.
Jeff Groot, executive director of communications for BC Ferries, says in an interview that BC Ferries signed the agreement with the bank before Freeland's letter to her provincial counterpart, Mike Farnworth.
BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez says in a news release that the full loan would result in expected savings of about $650 million in interest.
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This report by Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press, was first published June 26, 2025.
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