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Ottawa makes good on promise to cut Confederation Bridge tolls, ferry fares in Eastern Canada

Ottawa makes good on promise to cut Confederation Bridge tolls, ferry fares in Eastern Canada

CBC28-07-2025
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:
Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Que., and Souris, P.E.I.
Wood Islands, P.E.I., and Caribou, N.S.
Saint John, N.B., and Digby, N.S.
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.
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Closing the NOI gap: As of Q3 2025, 12% of Mainstreet's portfolio was going through the stabilization process due largely to high levels of add-value acquisitions. Our management team believes vacancy rates, NOI and FFO will be meaningfully improved as we continue to stabilize units. In the BC market alone, we estimate that the potential upside based on an estimated average monthly mark-to-market gaps for NOI growth is approximately $28 million. Alberta and Saskatchewan markets also have substantial room for mark-to-market catch up. Article content 3. Creating value from existing footprints: We continue to explore opportunities to create larger returns from existing Mainstreet properties through municipalities that have eased zoning restrictions, through subdivisions and optimized residual space. The three-point plan to accomplish this is: Article content Turning unused or residual space within existing buildings into new units (YTD 55 additional units created) Exploring zoning and density relaxations to potentially build new capacity within existing footprint Subdividing residual lands which created more clear title assets on our balance sheet (See page 10 of Q3 2025 report for leger of developable vacant land) Article content 4. Buying back shares: Mainstreet is prepared to buy back shares under our existing NCIB on an opportunistic basis when Mainstreet shares are trading below NAV, to further increase shareholder value. Article content Forward-Looking Information Article content Certain statements contained herein constitute 'forward-looking statements' as such term is used in applicable Canadian securities laws. These statements relate to analysis and other information based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. In particular, statements concerning estimates related to future acquisitions, dispositions and capital expenditures, increase or reduction of vacancy rates, increase or decrease of rental rates and rental revenue, future income and profitability, timing of refinancing of debt and completion, timing and costs of renovations, increased or decreased funds from operations and cash flow, the Corporation's liquidity and financial capacity, improved rental conditions, future environmental impact the Corporation's goals and the steps it will take to achieve them the Corporation's anticipated funding sources to meet various operating and capital obligations and other factors and events described in this document should be viewed as forward-looking statements to the extent that they involve estimates thereof. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions of future events or performance (often, but not always, using such words or phrases as 'expects' or 'does not expect', 'is expected', 'anticipates' or 'does not anticipate', 'plans', 'estimates' or 'intends', or stating that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or 'will' be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as forward-looking statements. Article content Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events or performance and by their nature involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those risks described in the Corporation's AIF, dated December 5, 2024 under the heading 'Risk Factors', that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, the effect of inflation on consumers and tenants, the effect of rising mortgage and interest rates on the Corporation, including its financing costs, challenges related to up-financing maturing mortgages or financing of clear titled assets after stabilization, disruptions in global supply chains, labour shortages, the length and severity of geopolitical conflict and the occurrence of additional global turmoil and its effects on global markets and supply chains, changes in government policies regarding immigration and international students, cyber-incidents Corporation (including the effect of the cybersecurity incident which occurred on May 2, 2024), costs and timing of the development or renovation of existing properties, availability of capital to fund stabilization programs, other issues associated with the real estate industry including availability of labour and costs of renovations, supply chain issues, fluctuations in vacancy rates, general economic conditions, trade policies and tensions, including changes in, or the imposition of tariffs and/or trade barriers and the economic impacts, volatility and uncertainty resulting therefrom, competition for tenants, unoccupied units during renovations, rent control, fluctuations in utility and energy costs, carbon tax increases, environmental and other liabilities, effects of climate change, credit risks of tenants, availability of capital, changes in legislation and regulatory regime applicable to the corporation, loss of key personnel, a failure to realise the benefit of acquisitions and/or renovations, the effects of severe weather events on the Corporation's properties, climate change, public health measures (including travel and post-secondary restrictions), uninsured losses, fluctuations in the capital markets and the trading price of the Common Shares, conflicts of interest of the Corporation's directors and officers, and other such business risks as discussed herein. This is not an exhaustive list of the factors that may affect Mainstreet's forward-looking statements. Other risks and uncertainties not presently known to the Corporation could also cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed in its forward-looking statements. Article content Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date the statements are made, and the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. Article content Management closely monitors factors that could cause actual actions, events, or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and will update those forward-looking statements where appropriate in its annual and quarterly financial reports. Article content Certain information set out herein may be considered as 'financial outlook' within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The purpose of this financial outlook is to provide readers with disclosure regarding the Corporations reasonable expectations as to the anticipated results of its proposed business activities for the periods indicated. Readers are cautioned that the financial outlook may not be appropriate for other purposes. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content

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