TRAN - August 1, 2025 - Canada Infrastructure Bank’s financing of new vessels for BC Ferries

07. PIC - Interim Replacement for the MV Holiday Island

LOCATION: Central Nova, Nova Scotia / Cardigan, Prince Edward Island

ISSUE/SOURCE: Eastern Canada Ferry Services

DATE: July 2025

SUGGESTED RESPONSES

  • The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring a two-vessel ferry service in peak season between Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island, and Caribou, Nova Scotia, that meets traffic demand.
  • In mid-June 2025, at the beginning of peak season, the MV Northumberland, replacing the MV Holiday Island, came into service.
  • The Government of Canada launched a contractor-led operational review of Northumberland Ferries in February 2025. The review focuses on vessel maintenance, the operator’s safety management system, and risk management practices.
  • The review aims to ensure regulatory compliance and identify areas for improvement. Transport Canada expects the final report by the end of July 2025 and will collaborate with the operator on an action plan by late summer or early fall.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

  • Through the Ferry Services Contribution Program, Transport Canada provides funding to private operators to support three interprovincial ferry services in Eastern Canada, including service between:
    1. Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island and Caribou, Nova Scotia;
    2. Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec and Souris, Prince Edward Island; and
    3. Saint John, New Brunswick and Digby, Nova Scotia.
  • The vessels and terminals used to provide the services are owned by Transport Canada and are leased to the operators for a nominal amount.
  • Budget 2019 announced that the Government of Canada would procure two new vessels from a Canadian shipyard to replace the MV Madeleine and the MV Holiday Island as both ferries were at the end of their useful lives.
  • On July 22, 2022, there was an engine fire on board the MV Holiday Island. The vessel was damaged beyond repair and the ferry operator chartered the MV Saaremaa for the remainder of the season. The MV Holiday Island has been disposed of in an environmentally conscious manner.
  • On August 23, 2024, the Government of Canada published an Advance Contract Award Notice to signal its intention to purchase the MV Fanafjord to serve as an interim replacement for the MV Holiday Island until the new replacement ferry is completed. The Advance Contract Award Notice allowed other interested suppliers 15 days to submit a statement of capabilities demonstrating they met Transport Canada’s requirements.
    • On November 16, 2023, the Government of Canada announced that it would be acquiring the MV Fanafjord as an interim replacement for the MV Holiday Island. The vessel was subsequently renamed the MV Northumberland. The total cost of the contract, including key spare parts, was $42.7 million.
    • On January 26, 2025, the vessel arrived in Canada. It was berthed in Pictou, Nova Scotia, over the winter where additional refit work was undertaken. The vessel entered into service in mid-June 2025.
    • With regard to the operational review of Northumberland Ferries, a contract was awarded to Altis Recruitment. The total value of the contract is expected to be in the range of $107,000.
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