---
title: "Eby promises new shipyard and permanent $60M manufacturing fund"
description: "David Eby announced on October 14 that a re-elected NDP government would work with Ottawa to build a new major shipyard in B.C., and would make the Manufacturing Jobs Fund permanent at $60 million per year."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/news/bc-ndp-eby-new-shipyard-bc-ferries-manufacturing-fund-2026"
last_updated: "2026-10-17T18:42:34.436Z"
---

[David Eby](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/david-eby), the BC NDP leader, announced at a Greater Vancouver Board of Trade forum on October 14 that a re-elected NDP government would work with the federal government to build a new major shipyard in British Columbia, Daily Hive reported.

The party says such a facility would support Canada's defence needs and increase the capacity to build future BC Ferries vessels. It describes the proposal as Canada's first new major shipyard in a generation. The announcement did not include a proposed location or completion timeline.

**How the province would pay for it**

According to the BC NDP, as reported by Daily Hive, up to $250 million is available through the provincial Strategic Investment Fund to help attract private investment and federal funding. The fund operates under the Canada-B.C. Shared Prosperity Agreement with the federal government. The $250 million is the party's own figure from the announcement.

Eby also pledged to make the B.C. Manufacturing Jobs Fund permanent at $60 million per year. Part of that annual funding would be dedicated to forestry mills facing tariffs, to help them update their facilities, maintain employment and find additional markets.

A third commitment would allow more food processing on select Agricultural Land Reserve properties that the party describes as poorly suited to primary food production. The party says protections for prime farmland would remain in place.

**The context of BC Ferries and shipbuilding**

In 2025, BC Ferries chose a shipyard in China to build the first four new Summit-class vessels. No Canadian shipyard submitted a bid, according to Daily Hive, partly because existing Canadian yards were already committed to federal contracts under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. BC Ferries has previously warned that building ships locally would require significant government funding to close the gap between local and international costs.

In September 2026, just before the election call, Eby announced that a future order of two additional Summit-class vessels, expected in the second half of the 2030s, would be built at B.C. shipyards. The October 14 announcement would create new capacity to support that.

"The last thing we need is deep cuts that undermine our ability to grow, halt critical infrastructure, and weaken the public services businesses rely on to attract talent," the party quoted Eby as saying. The party also cited a 16 per cent increase in B.C. exports to destinations outside the United States over the past year; that figure is from the party's own announcement.

Advance voting in the BC provincial election runs from October 16 to October 21, 2026. Voting day is October 24. Elections BC has voting locations for every district. The full list of [BC provincial candidates](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates) is on this site.

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