BC NDP ignored study proving BC Ferries ships could be built locally

Despite the B.C. NDP government’s denials, a recently uncovered report reveals that local shipyards were capable of building BC Ferries’ new vessels two years ago.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Despite the B.C. NDP government’s denials, a recently uncovered report reveals that local shipyards were capable of building BC Ferries’ new vessels two years ago.

CHEK News obtained a report commissioned by North-Vancouver based shipyard Seaspan back in 2023 and given to the provincial government stating that local shipyards could have built at least some what is needed by BC Ferries’ domestically.

A report by Shirocca Consulting found thousands of jobs and billions in economic revenue could have been generated in B.C. if BC Ferries had accepted a plan to phase in the local construction of seven new C-class major vessels.

However, this would have required BC Ferries and the government to place quotas on Canadian procurement.

“(BC Ferries) do not specify targets or percentages for B.C. or Canadian content. This places domestic shipbuilders at a competitive disadvantage as foreign labour rates are significantly lower,” reads the report.

“While this approach may yield a lower cost in the narrowest sense, it overlooks the employment, wage earnings, and contributions to B.C. and Canada’s economies and GDP, that could result from domestic participation.”

The report outlined projected economic benefits for the province, including $121-234 million in additional tax revenue and 2,500-5,800 direct jobs from Seaspan.

The report was allegedly ignored by the BC NDP government, which later claimed to be disappointed BC Ferries awarded the contract to a state-owned Chinese shipyard in June.

The Shirocca report also presented two other scenarios for Seaspan to be a viable option for BC Ferries: outfitting foreign-built ships in Canada or phasing in the construction of seven BC Ferries ships over nine years, allowing roughly half to be entirely built by B.C. workers.

Under the phased plan, the first ship would have been built by a foreign shipyard and then outfitted in B.C., with the second and third partially built in B.C. The remaining three ships would be fully built domestically.

This approach would have created 9,800 direct and indirect jobs and injected $1.1 billion into the B.C. economy over that period. Additionally, it could have generated $234 million in tax revenue for the B.C. government, exceeding the province’s annual operating subsidy for BC Ferries.

The latest report further corroborates that many politicians were aware of the contract award to the PRC-backed China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards before it became public, but later claimed to be blindsided by the deal.

Matters were made worse when it became apparent that the financing for constructing the four new vessels would come from taxpayers in the form of a $1 billion low-interest loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank.