CN Marine was a Canadian

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

company headquartered in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

History

CN Marine was created by parent

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

(CN) in 1977 as a means to group the company's ferry operations in eastern Canada into a separate operating division. It had previously been part of the Canadian National Steamship Company. The majority of these ferries also required federal subsidies to supplement fares, thus CN was unwilling to have the operating losses appear in the railway's accounts. CN Marine also operated the Newfoundland Dockyard in St. John's, Newfoundland. CN Marine undertook several major service improvements on the constitutionally mandated services to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

and

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

by commissioning the construction of the new vessels '' Abegweit'' and ''

Caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

'' in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1986, the federal government approved a restructuring at CN which saw the company remove itself completely from the east coast ferry service, which was renamed Marine Atlantic. This move was in advance of CN abandoning railway services on the islands of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, which had required use of CN/CN Marine rail ferries. At the time of the changeover to Marine Atlantic, the last of the rail ferries to Newfoundland were retired, with that province's railway abandoned in September 1988; Prince Edward Island followed in December 1989. Marine Atlantic itself made many changes a decade later in 1997, virtually decimating the remnants of CN Marine by removing itself from all routes and vessels except the constitutionally mandated service to Port aux Basques and the seasonal service to Argentia, both originating in North Sydney. Also in 1997 Marine Atlantic sold off the Newfoundland Dockyard in St. John's to a private operator. It was renamed NewDock-The St. John's Dockyard Company.

Routes

* Port Borden, PEI to Cape Tormentine, NB * Saint John, NB to Digby, NS (took over from

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

in early 1976). * Bar Harbor, ME (and sometimes Portland, ME) to Yarmouth, NS * North Sydney, NS to Port aux Basques, NL * North Sydney, NS to Argentia, NL * Port aux Basques, NL to Argentia, NL (coastal service) * St. John's, NL to St. Anthony, NL (coastal service) * Lewisporte, NL to Goose Bay, NL (coastal service) * St. Anthony, NL to Nain, NL (coastal service)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cn Marine Ferry companies of Prince Edward Island Ferry companies of New Brunswick Ferry companies of Nova Scotia Ferry companies of Newfoundland and Labrador Ferry companies of Maine Canadian National Railway subsidiaries Companies based in Moncton Former Crown corporations of Canada Defunct shipping companies of Canada Transport companies established in 1977 1977 establishments in New Brunswick Transport companies disestablished in 1986 1986 disestablishments in New Brunswick Canadian companies disestablished in 1986 Canadian companies established in 1977