Bayfield, ON - Communities across Canada are supported by small craft harbours that provide the commercial fishing industry with safe and accessible facilities. The communities of Bayfield, Lion’s Head, Port Elgin, Dyer’s Bay, Howdenvale, Meaford, Big Bay (North Keppel), White Cloud Island, Pembroke, and Silver Water in Ontario are welcoming important federal investments that will benefit their local harbour infrastructure.
With approximately 45,000 Canadians employed in this sector, the Government of Canada is making investments to renew its network of small craft harbours.We are doing so in partnership with municipalities and other key stakeholders where investments and divestitures will bolster rural economic growth for fishing and tourism hubs like these communities.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Sean Casey, announced that the Government of Canada is investing $8.3 million in harbour infrastructure in Ontario, including $875,000 in Bayfield, in the Municipality of Bluewater, Ontario.
As part of the $250 million investment in its network of small craft harbours across the country under Budget 2018, Fisheries and Oceans Canada undertook work to replace the South Pier Deck at Bayfield Harbour. CSL Construction completed the work in March 2019.
DFO also invested in the rehabilitation of the breakwater that was damaged due to a storm event in 2017 at its Small Craft Harbour facility in Meaford, ON. A contract valued at $519,000 was awarded to Bronte Construction and the work was completed at the end of March 2019.
In Lion’s Head, ON in the municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula, a similar breakwater reconstruction project valued at $498,000 was completed by Bridge Excavating Ltd in April 2019. In Big Bay, (North Keppel) ON, in the Township of Georgian Bluffs, a $270,000 wharf reconstruction project was completed by East Elgin Concrete Forming Limited in March 2019, while a $90,000 rehabilitation of a wharf in Silver Water, Ontario on Manitoulin Island was completed by J.I. Enterprises, also in March 2019.
Projects in Port Elgin in the Town of Saugeen Shores, Dyer’s Bay in the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula, White Cloud Island in the Township of Georgian Bluffs, Howdenvale in the Municipality of South Bruce Peninsula and Pembroke are all in the preliminary design phase, with contracts going to tender shortly. Construction at White Cloud Island is anticipated to begin this summer, with work beginning at the remaining four locations anticipated to begin in the fall of 2019.
Source : Government Of Canada