68 Société des traversiers du Québec, known as STQ, is Canada’s second-largest ferry operator and carries around five million passengers and 2.3 million vehicles on 13 routes operated by 23 vessels per year. While the country’s single largest ferry network is located on the west coast in British Columbia, STQ is active on the east coast, notably in the Saint Lawrence river and estuary. A Crown corporation, STQ is owned by the Province of Quebec by virtue of operating its ferry services within a single province. “We are fully controlled by the province – it covers 85 per cent of our annual expenditure while the remaining 15 per cent is generated from ticket sales and onboard spend,” says Greta Bédard, STQ’s president and CEO, who joined the organisation in 2001, having started her career in the maritime industry 15 years earlier when she graduated from Quebec’s Maritime Institute as a navigation officer. Bédard then became the company’s first female leader when she took the helm in early 2023. “Our first mission is to serve the local community and the islands, some of which are really remote,” says Bédard. “Our ferry network is part of the province’s road infrastructure which is why the typical lifeline ferry services, FEATURED INTERVIEW Going electric with new ships Société des traversiers du Québec’s Greta Bédard discusses with Philippe Holthof the Canadian ferry operator’s plans to improve its fleet, operational performance and both the passenger and employee experience STQ’s ferries provide lifeline services for locals living on islands in the Province of Quebec
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