Canada. Federal Bridge Corporation Limited : Since the beginning of Canadian history, traversing the water has been a challenge to the expansion of the transportation networks in the country. By the mid-nineteenth century, construction of bridges, first rail, then road, were just beginning to play the significant role they would have in the economic development of Canada.
In the late 1990s, the government's desire to consolidate the management of bridges in a single federal agency resulted in the creation of the Federal Bridge Corporation. The Canada Marine Act (Bill C-9), which received royal assent June 11, 1998 dissolved the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation and separated the navigable and non-navigable assets within the institution. The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited (FBCL) was established as a parent Crown Corporation on September 2nd, 1998 under the Canadian Business Corporations Act and was given the responsibility for operating and managing non-navigable structures.
The non-navigable structures at that time included the Thousand Islands International Bridge, the International Seaway Bridge in Cornwall and all components of the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated in Montréal. The latter included the Jacques-Cartier and Champlain Bridge, the Champlain Bridge stockade, the federal portion of the Honoré Mercier Bridge, the Bonaventure freeway and the Melocheville tunnel.
Today, the FBCL owns and manages some of the largest and most strategic crossings in the country. In 2006-2007, more than 134 million vehicles used its structures. The mandate of the FBCL is to ensure that the Government of Canada maintains optimal monitoring of bridges under its care and control, and to ensure that these structures are safe and effective for users.
Also, in accordance with its mandate, the FBCL may acquire land to build, maintain and operate bridges connecting Canada to the United States. It may also acquire shares or assets of any company owning, operating or managing the bridges. In this way, in 2000-2001, the FBCL acquired the Ste.Marie River Bridge Corporation which is responsible for the operation of the Canadian portion of the Sault St. Marie bridge.
Consequently, the Federal Bridge Corporation has two fully-owned subsidiaries which are the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated and the Seaway International Bridge Corporation, Ltd. The corporation is also the principle shareholder (91.3%) of the Ste. Marie River Bridge Corporation, the other shares being held by the bridge administrators and the city of Sault Ste. Marie. The Thousand Islands International Bridge is not a subsidiary of FBCL, but the corporation is responsible for the administration of the Canadian portion of the bridge. The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority (TIBA) is the U.S. company incorporated in the State of New York, which maintains the American portion.
The Federal Bridge Corporation reports to Parliament through the Minister of Transport.
