Bay Ferries - Bay of Fundy

Bay of Fundy

Bay Ferries operates the ferry service across the Bay of Fundy between Saint John, New Brunswick, and Digby, Nova Scotia, using the vessel MV Princess of Acadia.

This ferry service is a continuation of steamship service dating to the 19th century, expanded upon by the Dominion Atlantic Railway in the early 20th century and subsequently the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The service originally operated from dockside rail facilities at Long Wharf in Saint John and the current public wharf in Digby.

The current terminals in Saint John and Digby were constructed in 1969 by the federal government under an agreement with Canadian Pacific (CP) and the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. CP was to build a new ferry, the MV Princess of Acadia (built in 1971), the federal government would construct and own the new ferry terminals, and the provincial governments would construct new roads to link the terminals with the respective highway networks. If CP ever encountered an operating loss, it was agreed that the federal government would take over responsibility for the service.

The service became unprofitable for CP in 1974 and the federal government stepped in, providing an operating subsidy to maintain the service. In 1976, the service (and the vessel Princess of Acadia) were transferred to Canadian National Railway and in 1977 was grouped under a separate subsidiary CN Marine. In 1986 this subsidiary was made a separate Crown corporation Marine Atlantic.

Bay Ferries has continued to operate the year-round service since 1997 using Princess of Acadia which, along with the ferry terminals, is owned by the Government of Canada. Crossing time is approximately 3 hours.

Although the federal government owns the ferry terminals and vessels, the operation of this inter-provincial ferry service is one of the few in Canada which is unsubsidized. On June 30, 2006; Bay Ferries announced plans to discontinue the Princess of Acadia service effective October 31, 2006 citing a 25% decrease in passenger totals since 1998. The announcement met with widespread opposition, with a group of local business owners, concerned citizens and ferry company employees organizing a "Save The Ferry" committee to help save the service. Over 130 jobs would be directly terminated as well as hundreds (possibly thousands) indirectly. The federal government, which still owns the vessel and terminals, as well as the provincial government of Nova Scotia and municipalities on both sides, looked at possible solutions. The Nova Scotia government and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency offered a combined $6 million to subsidize the service, with additional funding expected from New Brunswick. On October 29, a deal between the federal government and Bay Ferries was reached that will keep the service in operation until at least 2008.