2025 budget: Ottawa missed the boat
The 2025 federal budget commits $6.6 billion in Canada’s defence shipbuilding industry and major national projects. But one critical piece is missing: support for ferry-dependent communities in British Columbia.
Budget 2025 also celebrates lowering fares for ferry users in Atlantic Canada, but there’s no new passenger subsidy for B.C., where ferries are not optional. They are the daily commute, the grocery run, the medical trip and the way families stay connected to the national supply chain. Canadians deserve equal treatment no matter which coast they live on.
Ferry-dependent communities have already raised concerns about service delays and reliability. As Gibsons’ Mayor Silas White recently said, “People’s lives are being impacted significantly… service disruptions and delays are unacceptable.”
Those challenges are made worse by a funding model that treats the coasts unequally.
Also missing from this budget is targeted support for marine sector training and recruitment. There is no dedicated support for marine officer education, or training for engineers, deckhands and other ferry-specific workforce development in B.C.
Finally, a national approach to shipbuilding must include passenger ferries. If Ottawa can invest in military fleets to protect our coasts, it should also invest in fleets that connect our communities.
During the federal election, Mark Carney said he would consider federal ferry support for British Columbia. This budget doesn’t follow through on that commitment.
