Canada Infrastructure Bank commits CAD 1 billion loan to BC Ferries for fleet and terminal modernisation

Mechanism

CIB, which provides concessional debt financing for public infrastructure, reached financial close on a CAD 1 billion credit agreement with BC Ferries (a provincial Crown-owned ferry operator) on 2025-03-28, with the first CAD 133 million installment disbursed 2025-05-22 and the June 26 announcement formalizing the full commitment. The facility is split into two tranches: up to CAD 690 million to finance four new hybrid-propulsion "Major Vessels" (2,100-passenger / 360-vehicle capacity, up 52% and 24% respectively over the ferries they replace) for the Vancouver-Victoria and Vancouver-Nanaimo routes, and up to CAD 310 million for shore-side terminal electrification to support eventual full battery-electric operation. All funding is to be disbursed by 2030, at a below-market rate CIB states will save BC Ferries approximately CAD 650 million in debt-interest charges versus commercial financing over the loan term.

The construction contract for the four vessels went to China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards (CMI Weihai), a shipyard owned by the Government of the People's Republic of China, selected in June 2025 as BC Ferries' largest-ever single procurement. The award drew domestic political controversy — Canada's federal transport minister publicly flagged concern about sourcing from "a country actively harming Canada's economy" amid the ongoing Canada-China tariff dispute, and Canadian shipbuilder Davie (the country's largest shipyard) alleged it was not given a genuine opportunity to bid. Severity is set at 3 (quant) reflecting the CAD 1 billion scale, comparable to or larger than other CIB single-project financings in the register (e.g. the CAD 660 million Irving Pulp & Paper NextGen loan, severity 3) and larger than the CAD 139.5 million BC Hydro North Coast Transmission early-works loan (severity 2).

Downstream implications

• Adds to the pattern of Canadian federal Crown-bank concessional financing

(CIB) being deployed at increasing scale across infrastructure sectors — but this instance is notable for financing procurement from a Chinese state-owned shipyard rather than domestic industrial capacity, cutting against the "Buy Canadian" thread elsewhere in the register (e.g. 2025-12-16 Buy Canadian procurement policy framework, 2026-01-15 Alstom-TTC subway-train award).

• Domestic political backlash over the CMI Weihai award could pressure

Ottawa or BC to attach future CIB financing to domestic-content or allied-sourcing conditions — worth watching for a policy response.

• First vessel is scheduled to enter service spring 2029; watch for

construction-phase financing or contract-scope amendments.

Open questions

• CIB's stated concessional interest rate on the facility was not disclosed

in the primary source.

• Whether the federal government will impose any sourcing conditions on

future CIB/Crown-financed vessel procurement in response to the CMI Weihai controversy.