The federal government is slashing tolls on the Confederation Bridge and lowering ferry fares in Eastern Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced while in Prince Edward Island on Monday.
Effective Aug. 1, the cost of crossing the bridge which connects P.E.I. with New Brunswick will fall to $20 from $50.25. Fares for passengers, cars and commercial traffic on ferry services in Eastern Canada that are federally supported will go down by 50 per cent.
Those ferries provide service between:
The federal government also announced it was scrapping fuel surcharges on those routes.
“By cutting tolls on the Confederation Bridge and ferries in Atlantic Canada, Canadians and businesses will save millions of dollars. That means more travel and trade between provinces,” Carney said in a written release.
Fares for passengers and vehicles on the ferry that operates between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are also going down. Ottawa has pledged to increase funding to the operator, Marine Atlantic, to lower the price by 50 per cent. Ottawa is also freezing commercial freight rates on that route.
This is Carney’s first time on P.E.I. as prime minister. The announcement makes good on his pledge during the federal election campaign to reduce tolls on the Confederation Bridge and cut ferry fares.
More to come
