Ferries in Atlantic Canada are seeing an increase in passengers and bookings ever since the federal government cut fares in half this summer.
“I’ve noticed (a) significant increase in ferry traffic,” said Curtis Dionne, who co-owns Glass Roots, a glassblowing studio and gallery in Uptown Saint John, N.B.
“I saw people coming over here from Nova Scotia, specifically, just to visit us because we have a lot of fans on that side, and it’s been difficult for them to get over.”
Between Aug. 1 and Sept. 25, Bay Ferries saw a 34 per cent jump in passenger and 39 per cent jump in vehicle traffic travelling between Saint John and Digby, N.S., compared to last year.
William McCormick, a councillor in Digby, has noticed the difference. He said it’s usually busy in summer, but even now, he’s noticed a lot of traffic — license plates from New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec and the U.S. state of Maine.
“It’s definitely been busier in the town than what it would normally be with, with ferry traffic,” he said. “I think it’s fantastic. It’s great to have more people passing through the town.”
On July 28, Mark Carney made good on an election promise to drop bridge tolls on Prince Edward Island’s Confederation Bridge from just over $50 to $20 and cut ferry fares on federally supported ferries in Atlantic Canada by half.
At the time, the prime minister estimated the move would cost about $100 million dollars each year, but said it’s expected there would be an increase in traffic as well.
Marine Atlantic, which operates ferries between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, has also seen a spike in bookings, particularly for future travel.
Darrell Mercer, the corporate communications manager at Marine Atlantic, said of the 50,000 passengers currently booked to travel, about 38,000 new bookings have been made since Aug. 1.
“That’s almost double what we’ve seen in previous years,” Mercer said. “Right now, summer 2026, we’re looking at a very busy year,” Mercer said.
Mercer said Marine Atlantic faced capacity challenges this season because of Canadians’ desire to travel within Canada.
“Most of our crossings were full for the summer. So, the impact of the decreased fares wouldn’t be seen until moving into the fall and into next year,” he said.
According to data published by Tourism PEI, vehicle traffic went up 25 per cent across the Confederation Bridge and on the ferry to P.E.I. in August, compared to the year before while air travel dropped by about 16 per cent.
Frédéric Gionet, the Canadian Federation of Independent’s director of legislative affairs for the Atlantic region, said despite the economic conditions, more people are going on more day trips to the island.
“It’s easier to do business. And you think of P.E.I as closer to the rest of the mainland. And that was the objective,” he said.
Gionet notes it’ll take more time to see how big of an impact the reduction in fares is having, adding that the pro-Canadian travel movement and people’s desire to stay close to home and shop locally also likely contributed to the increase in traffic.
“But if you remove the financial component to that, which was the tolls, or at least reduce it, taking out of contention, it definitely helps,” he said.
Tony Polley, owner of Route 16 Diner — a New Brunswick restaurant near to the Confederation Bridge — had expected to see a boost in business, but said while he’s seen more traffic, sales are only up slightly, with a potential five-per-cent bump.
Polley wonders if instead of stopping in for a bite at the diner, a lot of travellers taking day trips are eating before they leave rather than on the road.
In Saint John, the co-owner of Glass Roots hopes ferry fares remain low.
“It really has been great. And if they lower them even more, that’d be great,” said Dionne.
Flavio Nienow, a communications advisor with Transport Canada, said the new fares for Eastern Canada, including Marine Atlantic, are expected to remain in place until at least 2029 and the tolls for the Confederation Bridge are expected to remain in place until at least 2032.
He noted the fare reductions will help build a stronger economy by reducing barriers to interprovincial trade.
“The federal funding provided to the operators will be adjusted to reflect the fare reductions,” said Nienow. “The funding amounts will be based on actual traffic volumes through the end of the initiative.”
