New BC Ferries Will Not Be Built in BC

Dec 10, 2024 - 9 months ago

On September 16, 2024, BC Ferries publicly announced the release of a Request for Proposal for their New Major Vessel (NMV) program.

Seaspan has assessed the competition for the BC Ferries NMV program, and the conclusion is that it does not support the opportunity for the BC maritime sector to make a meaningful contribution to building these vessels, and thereby create high-value jobs and economic benefits for British Columbians.

As BC Ferries has outlined in their press release, cost is a primary issue and therefore, no bidder will be incentivized to include significant Canadian/BC domestic content in their bids.

Canadian shipyards and their supply chains cannot compete with low wage countries that have lower employment standards, lower environmental standards and lower safety standards than Canada and BC. The most significant difference is that in BC, the wages that Seaspan pays their skilled trades workforce are substantially higher than in these other countries.

Seaspan has commissioned independent economic studies that show substantial return on investment for the BC Government to support building the NMVs in BC. Today, Seaspan is already building large vessels (the same size as NMV) in BC – the capability is already here. Unlike bridge, dam, and hospital projects which have fixed duration, the BC shipbuilding industry will provide 20+ year jobs to workers and associated income tax revenues and other economic benefits to the province.

Other provinces in Canada (particularly Quebec) are supporting their shipyards aggressively by requiring domestic build and providing tax credits, forgivable loans and grants well in excess of $1 billion to their shipyards. This contributes to a significant competitive disadvantage for BC shipyards and workers.

Seaspan has stated they will continue to make the case to the BC Government to strategically build ferries in BC, and acknowledge the need for BC Ferries to get some of these replacement vessels very fast given their aging fleet. However, with the flexible contracting approach that BC Ferries uses, it is hopeful that the BC Government will work with a BC team to build some of the 7 vessels, particularly the last 2, in BC.

BC should seize the opportunity to build some of the NMVs here at home and generate the significant socio-economic benefits associated with capital projects of this size.

Source: Seaspan