Questions mount after cost nearly quadruples for 2 new Toronto ferries

Several years after the city began the process of replacing its aging fleet of ferries travelling to Toronto’s harbour islands, the cost of two new vessels has nearly quadrupled from the original budgeted figures and councillors were probing whether additional costs could be incurred before they officially sign off on the order.

Toronto is legally required to provide year-round ferry service to the roughly 1.5 million visitors to the Toronto Islands every year. The four diesel-powered vessels in its current fleet are all over 60 years old and their age can result in unexpected service disruptions. Two of the ferries were down for repairs from early May until just last week, prompting the city to warn passengers they could be in for long wait times just as the high tourism season began.

The city’s process of replacing the aging ferry fleet began in 2015 when council began allocating funding towards a new purchase. The original price tag for two new ferries in the parks, forestry and recreation budget in 2020 was $25 million.

But in 2022, council changed course, opting to replace the vessels with fully electric options rather than diesel or hybrid vessels. The price tag for that, combined with rising costs for materials, has dwarfed the original figure. A request for proposals process saw Damen Shipbuilding from the Netherlands selected to build the ferries at a cost of $92.2 million.

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That cost doesn’t include the requirements to upgrade the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal to accommodate the larger size of the ferries, or the installation of dockside charging stations.

“There is an increase to cost and we know that there will also be a value for money benefit when it comes to emissions,” Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik said.

City staff project a fully electrified fleet will remove the equivalent emissions of about 600 cars. Malik said the additional capacity for more passengers is anticipated to produce more revenue for the city to offset the cost.

Howie Dayton, the general manager of parks, forestry and recreation, said four electric ferries are estimated to save the city about $1 million per year in fuel and other additional costs. The ferries currently on order are required to be charged every four trips and staff said it would take about six minutes to complete each charge.

Before the signing off on the order, Coun. Stephen Holyday said it was important to get a more fulsome picture of the total life-cycle cost of the new vessels, “including fuel to operate it, maintenance, parts and even things that are located on the shoreside so that council gets a complete picture of what we’re committing to.”

Others, like Coun. Paula Fletcher, were questioning whether the city’s parks department is suited to oversee everything from procurement to maintaining a fleet of ferries, suggesting it may be outside the department’s field of expertise.

“My concern is that the oversight of the purchasing, the building, the whole process being left with parks,” she said, “it’s not their core business.”

The general government committee adopted a motion to approve the order, but it will be up to city council to make the final decision when it meets later this month.