The Honoré Mercier Bridge and Melocheville Tunnel haven’t always been under the responsibility of JCCBI. Before that, they belonged to the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority (SLSA), whose mission since 1954 had been to build and operate a deep draft waterway between the Port of Montreal and Lake Erie and manage other seaway facilities and properties. In addition to managing the seaway, the Authority also operated the Melocheville Tunnel and Honoré Mercier Bridge and oversaw two subsidiaries: The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated (JCCBI), which managed the Jacques Cartier and Champlain bridges, and the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority (GLPA).
As part of the government’s mandate to commercialize the seaway, the Authority was dissolved and replaced with The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited, which was created on September 2, 1998 and became a Crown corporation on December 1, 1998, and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC), which was created on December 1, 1998. Before its dissolution, the Authority transferred its assets to the SLSMC on October 1, 1998. This is the date when responsibility for the Melocheville Tunnel and Honoré Mercier Bridge was transferred to JCCBI, which then became a subsidiary of the Federal Bridge Corporation Limited.