Sep 13, 2026
Seventeen trade unions representing more than 7,000 shipbuilders, ferry workers and steelworkers launched a campaign this month demanding BC Ferries build its next generation of vessels in Canada. For the millions of visitors and residents of BC who ride the ferries every year, the more consequential number may not be where the next ships get built — it could be the roughly 30% fare increase the CEO of BC Ferries has floated once the corporation’s current price cap expires in 2028.
Before 2002, every ferry added to the BC Ferries fleet was built in the province. That changed in June 2025, when BC Ferries awarded a contract for four new Summit Class vessels to China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards (CMI Weihai). The contract was awarded following a five-year procurement process that drew no bids from Canadian shipyards. In response, a coalition of unions launched a campaign called ‘Build Them Here,’ arguing B.C.’s shipbuilding industry has the capacity to do the work on future contracts.
What the unions are asking for
Brynn Bourke, executive director of the B.C. Building Trades, said BC Ferries was wrong to suggest it was impossible to build the vessels domestically, arguing in a Times Colonist interview that the industry has “the capacity to do more.”
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To meet future demands, the coalition isn’t asking for a reversal of the China deal already underway; the coalition is pushing for government commitments for steady, long-term work so B.C. shipyards can retool before the next contract is awarded.
Retooling to rebuild appears to have support; a poll commissioned as part of the campaign found 84% of BC residents want a plan to keep shipbuilding jobs in the province.
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Why BC Ferries went to China in the first place
BC Ferries has defended the CMI Weihai contract, saying an equivalent order built in Europe would have cost at least $1 billion more, and that it could not delay replacing an aging fleet while BC’s shipbuilding capacity develops.
“We could not defer replacing aging vessels while waiting for domestic capacity to develop,” the corporation said in a statement. The new vessels are expected to enter service between 2029 and 2031.
The bigger number for your wallet
Regardless of who builds the next ferries, fares are set to increase.
Fares are set by the independent BC Ferries Commissioner under the Coastal Ferry Act, which caps the maximum average annual fare increase the corporation can charge. The current four-year price cap, running through March 2028, permits increases as steep as 9.2% a year, though BC Ferries has kept actual hikes closer to 3%, most recently a 3.2% adjustment that took effect in April 2026. On the main Tsawwassen–Swartz Bay route, that pushed the combined vehicle-and-driver fare to $110 one way.
The real question is what happens after March 2028. CEO Nicolas Jimenez has said that, based on the corporation’s 2023 budget forecast, fares may need to rise by roughly 30% once the price cap term ends, to keep up with an aging fleet and its capital plan — and that pressure may be higher given continued inflation.
Who actually pays for new ferries
To help finance the vessels, the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB), a federal Crown corporation, has committed up to $1 billion in loans, split between the ships and terminal electrification. BC Ferries says the full loan should save about $650 million in debt interest versus borrowing through private markets — savings meant to ease pressure on fares. But it is still debt the corporation must repay.
Without the CIB loan, BC Ferries would still be building ferries, but have to make up the difference “through higher fares for customers or higher investment from upper levels of government,” explained BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez, in a statement.
BC Ferries projects the four vessels will generate close to $4.5 billion in economic activity and support about 53,000 job-years in the province over their 45-year service lives, including maintenance, refits and terminal upgrades.
What ferry riders can do now
- Book saver fares. BC Ferries has expanded saver pricing to roughly 30% of all bookable space, with vehicle-and-driver fares as low as $49 on major routes — well under the regular rate.
- Travel off-peak. Weekday, early-morning and late-evening sailings carry the deepest discounts.
- Watch for the BC Ferries Commission’s next price cap review ahead of the March 2028. deadline. Public consultations typically open months in advance and are a direct way for riders to weigh in before any increase is finalized.
- Build a buffer into travel budgets for 2028 and beyond, rather than assuming today’s roughly 3% annual pace will hold.
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Romana King, Senior Editor at Money.ca, also writes for various North American publications and the RKHomeowner blog. Her book, House Poor No More, is an Amazon bestseller and five-time award winner, including the 2022 New York CPA Society's Excellence in Financial Journalism (EFJ) Book Award.
