'Free the Bridge' campaign launched to remove $50.25 Confederation Bridge toll

Small businesses on Prince Edward Island are calling for the removal of the $50.25 Confederation Bridge toll.

In a news release sent Tuesday, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business [CFIB] launched the “Free the Bridge” awareness campaign, which is calling on federal officials and 2025 election candidates to eliminate the toll over the bridge that connects P.E.I. to New Brunswick.

Frederic Gionet, a senior policy analyst with CFIB, said 76 per cent of small business owners on the Island want the toll removed.

“Islanders generally, and small businesses especially, feel that it’s a tax on P.E.I. to put it bluntly,” said Gionet in an interview with CTV News on Tuesday.

Gionet said removing the bridge toll is not a new topic and the CFIB is not the first organization to tackle the subject, but more than 900 of their members on P.E.I. say increased business costs is one of the biggest factors limiting their growth.

The toll adds up over the year and the business owners don’t think that’s fair, he said.

“You have to either pass that cost down to consumers or you absorb it if you can’t do it otherwise,” said Gionet. “Very few do not import anything from the mainland, so therefore almost 100 per cent of the businesses are affected in some way.”

Paul Trainor, Atlantic Business Federation president, says the CFIB’s initiative of eliminating the toll is a “pipe dream” and the federal carbon tax is a much bigger issue.

“This gas tax is killing Prince Edward Island. It’s killing Atlantic Canada, but in particular P.E.I. because literally everything that comes into Prince Edward Island has to be shipped. They’re paying a gas tax, or a carbon tax, or whatever the heck you want to call it, it’s still a tax on everything,” said Trainor.

Eliminating the carbon tax is a start, but Trainor said there’s other things the federal government can do.

“That’s helping small business with hiring, reducing the payroll levies like EI (Employment Insurance) and CPP (Canada Pension Plan) that could have a big impact,” said Trainor.

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What’s particularly unfair, Gionet said, is major federal infrastructure bridge projects have recently taken place in Montreal and Quebec City, but those structures remain toll-free.

“These projects obviously came considerably after the Confederation Bridge’s arrangements,” said Gionet. “I think it’s just a question of political will to address this. On the surface, it does appear to be unfair and you’re treating the populations differently.”

The 12.8-km long Confederation Bridge opened in 1997 at a cost of $1 billion to build.

According to the CFIB, the bridge has not been fully paid yet, but a public, private partnership between Strait Crossing and the federal government will end in 2031-32. At that point the Confederation Bridge will return to the federal government for $1, unless some sort of new arrangement is made.

Gionet said the province’s economy depends on agriculture, small businesses and tourism.

“It is a barrier to tourism. Is it a huge one? That’s debatable, but it is one. Every family feels it and $50.25 every time you do cross that bridge you’re reminded it is an extra expense just to visit P.E.I.,” said Gionet.

CTV News has reached out to the federal government and the four members of Parliament from P.E.I. for their reaction to the “Free the Bridge’” campaign.

“Our campaign is mostly about the plight of small businesses, but I’m sure many other Islanders have been feeling that pain as well and we invite them to join this particular movement, especially with an upcoming federal election,” said Gionet. “This is a federal responsibility for the most part and therefore that’s who can make the decisions and make this toll go away.”

In a statement to CTV News, Minister of Transport Anita Anand said she knows how vital the Confederation Bridge is to P.E.I.’s economy.

“Our Government is committed to keeping it affordable for Islanders. That's why tolls have been frozen since 2022, and Budget 2024 invested $13.7 million to keep tolls on the Confederation Bridge frozen until December 2026,” said Anand.

Bridge operator Strait Crossing Bridge Limited will receive funding from Transport Canada to avoid increasing the tolls.

For more P.E.I. news visit our dedicated provincial page.