A new study commissioned by Nova Scotia officials finds that the annual subsidies paid by the province to run a high-speed ferry to Bar Harbor are worth the investment.
According to the report, the Yarmouth-Bar Harbor CAT ferry has a positive economic impact in southwest Nova Scotia and across the province.
American and non-Nova Scotian ferry passengers spent “considerably more per capita” while visiting the region compared to other visitors who arrived by air or car, the report said.
The current contract with operator Bay Ferries Ltd. runs through the upcoming 2026 sailing season, but after that, the future of the service is uncertain.
Pam Mood, the mayor of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, said the report makes a clear case for the ferry service to continue. She said she believes the province should sign a long-term contract.
“I have businesses ready to set up here, but if they’re tourism-based, they certainly aren’t going to dig their heels in and invest their hard-earned funds unless there’s a long-term contract that gives them some stability and ability to look forward and say, ‘we’re safe,’” Mood said.
The CAT ferry is entirely subsidized by Nova Scotia, which has sparked debate among Canadians over the years about the service’s economic value. The report, however, finds that the annual, roughly $20 million subsidy paid by Nova Scotia to run the ferry to Bar Harbor is “neither disproportionately higher or lower” when compared to other service lines.
Ridership on the CAT ferry dropped 20% last year, primarily due to Canadians choosing not to travel to the United States. Americans, though, continued to visit, and Mood said she’s hopeful that cross-border travel will pick up again soon.
“We’re just so thankful that our American neighbors are traveling this way,” she said. “Many of us, especially here in this region, we’ve got family members over there, friends, people that visit every summer. We don’t want that to stop, and actually we don’t want that to stop either way. This needs to benefit of us, both Nova Scotia and Maine, and we have the capacity to do that.”
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
