"Just what we needed." NSBA receives funding from Community Economic Development Fund

On October 26 at Wedgeport Boats Ltd. in Lower Wedgeport, the provincial government announced the Nova Scotia Boatbuilders Association would be receiving significant support from the Community Economic Development fund to support activity in the marine sector. $366,000 will be available through an application process to help promote local boatbuilding businesses in broader markets and networks, publicize them and open possible doors to contracts in defence.

Jan Fullerton, Executive Director of the NSBA, gave a speech at the announcement that can be read below:

Boatbuilding has been a key industry in Nova Scotia for centuries. Before the arrival of Europeans, the Mi’kmaw built and used boats for travel, trade, and survival. Boats and ships brought new people to this land, and the boats built here have continued to evolve to meet the needs of those who live here.

The industry today builds boats for many purposes that remain important to the Nova Scotia economy, from commercial fishing boats to ferries, patrol boats to sailboats, small military craft to power boats, and more. Most are custom and semi-custom boats, built to meet the specific needs and preferences of individual customers.

Boatbuilding and repair companies are primarily in small coastal communities where they provide valuable employment and economic activity. Boats might be made with metal, fibre-reinforced plastics, wood, or a combination of these materials.

In the industry here, we have two unique trades: Boat Builder, which Nova Scotia is the only province to have as a designated trade, and Marine Service Technician, which is a designated trade in Nova Scotia and British Columbia. These trades and others show the knowledge and expertise of those who work in our industry.

In recent years, the boatbuilding and repair industry in Nova Scotia has been under pressure for a variety of reasons:

·      Significant cost increases, including labour and supply chains;

·      Changes to commercial fisheries, including market pressures related to the global trade environment;

·      Regulatory change and uncertainty, especially for the commercial fishing vessels that have constituted the majority of the work for Nova Scotia boatbuilders since the global financial crisis almost 20 years ago; and

·      A significant drop in international demand for repair and refit work during the years of the pandemic, although much of that has come back.

Recognizing these challenges, in 2024 the NSBA identified a need to support market development and diversification for our industry, and we began looking for ways to do this.

The Community Economic Development Fund through Nova Scotia’s Department of Growth and Development is designed to help sectors and communities become more competitive, which is just what we needed. We designed a project to explore and develop markets in the rest of Canada, Europe, and the United States.

While we knew there might be some uncertainty with the U.S., it is still too big and too close a market to ignore, and we hope that some of the volatility of the last two years will settle down soon.

Through this project, we are taking a multi-pronged approach of attending international trade shows, delivering a traditional media campaign, and conducting small, targeted trade missions once we identify best-fit markets for the boats and services that our industry can offer.

We will also be looking at the regulatory environment in high-market potential regions so we can help guide interested companies to the information they need to serve those regions.

We are very grateful to the Province of Nova Scotia, who supports the Nova Scotia Boatbuilders Association through multiple projects and partnerships including this one with the Department of Growth and Development.

It means a lot to us that the Department of Growth and Development sees the importance of the boatbuilding and repair industry in this province, in the past, present, and future. This industry is not the most visible in the province, yet the goods and services we provide are invaluable.

We look forward to continuing a strong partnership with the province to see boatbuilding and repair companies thrive today and tomorrow.