A " fixed link" between Prince Edward Island and mainland New Brunswick had been the vision of various individuals and groups since PEI joined Confederation in 1873. Various attempts between 1885 and 1970 to persuade the federal government to undertake such a project had failed to come to fruition. Following a provincial plebiscite in January 1988 in which the people of Prince Edward Island voted in favour of a fixed link of undetermined physical form, a bridge design was accepted by the Federal government. In spite of considerable controversy and campaigning by the pro- and anti- link factions, formal bids for bridge construction were received by Ottawa in 1992. The contract was awarded to the lowest bidder, Calgary based Strait Crossing Inc., a consortium of three international firms, Morrison-Knudsen of Boise, Idaho, GTM Entrepose of France, and Ballast Nedam of the Netherlands. The bridge was to be constructed, owned, and operated by a private company for a period of 35 years after which ownership would pass to the federal government. In the meantime the contractor would receive an annual government subsidy of $42 million and all toll booth revenues. Construction was carried out from 1993 to 1997 when the Confederation Bridge was officially opened on June 1.

The overseeing and quality control of the project carried out by Public Works Canada was known as Northumberland Strait Crossing Project.