Sydney, NS – Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP) have announced the expansion of its partnership consortium to include Membertou and Bridging Finance Inc. SHIP is working to develop Novaporte, a deep-water, multi-use port on 500 acres within the Port of Sydney. Novaporte is targeting container capacity of 1 million TEU’s in phase one and 3 million TEU’s by phase three
Membertou, a progressive Mi’kmaq community located three kilometers from downtown Sydney, has an existing partnership through SHIP’s Novazone project. The latter is a planned logistics park of more than 1250 acres which is directly adjacent to the Novaporte site. In addition to Membertou, the other 12 Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq communities are also currently major shareholders in Novazone.
Furthering the relationship with Mi’kmaq partners, the next stage will see Membertou become major equity players in SHIP and Novaporte – while remaining invested in Novazone.
Chief Terry Paul, CEO of Membertou Development Corporation, says, “Through increased efforts with SHIP, we see great potential for the future of Sydney Harbour. In Membertou, we recognize the robust capacity of the port and believe its economic opportunities are vast.”
In working together with Membertou, SHIP will establish Novaporte and Novazone as the only large-scale, deep-water port projects in Canada with major Indigenous ownership and leadership.
Bridging Finance is an Indigenous-led private Canadian company providing middle-market Canadian enterprises with alternative financing options. David Sharpe, CEO of Bridging Finance and a member of the Mohawks of the Bay Quinte, commented, “We see tremendous potential in this project and we think it has wide-reaching benefits to Membertou and all 13 Mi’kmaq communities, as well as for the entire province of Nova Scotia.”
