50. MARINE ATLANTIC INC.

MARINE ATLANTIC INC.

Marine Atlantic Inc. is seeking access to $149,875,667 in planned spending authorities.

KEY MESSAGES:

• The funding is from the corporation’s base appropriation, Budget 2019 decisions and additional funding approved in 2020.

• Marine Atlantic provides the constitutionally mandated ferry service between the Island of Newfoundland and Canada’s mainland.

• The funds will serve to cover the operating shortfall and capital requirements of Marine Atlantic ferry services, including the procurement of a new vessel and a new administration building in Port aux Basques.

• Canadians will benefit from a safe, effective and efficient ferry service to and from Newfoundland.

BACKGROUND

Marine Atlantic Inc. (MAI) is a non-agent Crown corporation incorporated under the Canada Business Corporation Act. MAI does not have its own enabling legislation.

MAI is responsible for operating the ferry service between the Island of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.  Its vessels carry people, vehicles, and commercial units that deliver goods and products to and from the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL). MAI fulfills Canada’s constitutional obligation to provide a year-round ferry service between North Sydney, Nova Scotia (NS) and Port aux Basques, NL. It also provides a seasonal service between North Sydney and Argentia, NL.

MAI owns three ferry terminals and operates a fleet of four ice-class RoPax vessels, which have the ability to accommodate both commercial freight and travellers at the same time.

In Budget 2019, the Government provided multi-year funding to MAI to support the modernization of its fleet through the procurement of a new ferry vessel.

In the additional funding in 2020, the Government provided multi-year funding to MAI for the construction of a new administration building in Port aux Basques.

Over the last month, a number of Federal and municipal officials in Newfoundland have requested that the Minister of Transport reject the rate increases announced by MAI in January 2021, as well as cost-recovery targets that the Government sets for the Corporation. The department notes that Marine Atlantic, as an independent legal entity that operates at arm’s length from the federal government, is responsible to set its own rates.