PEIThe P.E.I. government says it’s trimmed a list of five proposals down to just two that it will bring to the public as options for the former Confederation Bridge fabrication yard in Borden-Carleton. ‘The town is going to get… the decision that the province has made,’ says MLAStacey Janzer · CBC News · Posted: Oct 02, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 31 minutes agoThe 45-hectare former fabrication yard in Borden-Carleton is located where the huge concrete components of the Confederation Bridge were constructed nearly 30 years ago. (Shane Hennessey/CBC)The P.E.I. government says it’s trimmed a list of five proposals down to just two that it will bring to the public as options for the former Confederation Bridge fabrication yard in Borden-Carleton. In a statement, the Department of Economic Development, Innovation and Trade said officials have been in “ongoing discussions with the two proponents to potentially advance their respective projects as they do not require the entire former fabrication yard.” The 45-hectare piece of land is located where the huge concrete components of the bridge linking this province with New Brunswick were constructed nearly 30 years ago. The economic development agency Innovation P.E.I., which is a provincial Crown corporation, owns the site. All five applicants were given notice about the status of their proposals on July 3. The province said it has been in regular communication about the process with town officials in Borden-Carleton. The department said a surveyor completed an assessment of the site in late September, the results of which need to be shared with the town and leaders of the two projects to make sure that “they are all in compliance with both the proponents’ needs and the town’s master plan bylaw requirements.”Once that’s completed, the department can apply to the town for a permit to develop the site, which would then be subject to a public meeting.The department offered no other information about what either of the two proposals entail. What’s going on?Matt MacFarlane, leader of P.E.I.’s Green Party and the MLA for Borden-Kinkora, said he gets about the fate of the former fabrication yard from his constituents on a weekly basis.Matt MacFarlane, MLA for Borden-Kinkora, says he’s asked by constituents weekly about what’s happening with the former fabrication yard, but he doesn’t have much he can tell them. (Stacey Janzer/CBC)”People come to me wanting updates and information as to what’s going on in the community,” he said. “And so I’ve been trying to get as much information on this. But admittedly, the province has not been particularly transparent.” MacFarlane hosted a public meeting in the town last September. Residents who attended seemed to support the only proposal for the site that’s become publicly known — a golf course, pitched by competitive golfer and pharmacist Kris Taylor. Taylor’s proposal at the time included two 24-unit residential buildings as part of the second phase of the development.Since he was elected as an MLA in 2024, MacFarlane said there have been three different ministers of the Economic Development, Innovation and Trade portfolio. He said the churn has created complications in the process.”I’m not sure of the proposals themselves because at one point the previous minister, Cory Deagle, had indicated that all five proposals would be released to the to the public. Since then we’ve had a new minister in place,” MacFarlane said.”What the town is going to get, ultimately, is going to be the decision that the province has made and the town will find out [at] the public meeting.” MacFarlane is hopeful that whatever does end up on the former fabrication yard site is of good use to the community — but said he would have preferred that Borden-Carleton residents were more involved in the process.
P.E.I. narrows proposals for future of Confederation Bridge fabrication yard to 2
