The ''Canada Marine Act'' (CMA; french: Loi maritime du Canada) (the Act) was passed in 1998 under the stewardship of

David Collenette David Michael Collenette, PC (born June 24, 1946) is a former Canadian politician. From 1974, until his retirement from politics in 2004, he was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. A graduate from York University's Glendon College Glen ...

, who was Canada's

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...

at that time. It was intended to modernize Canada's most important ports and make "the system of Canadian ports competitive, efficient and commercially oriented, providing for the establishing of port authorities and the divesting of certain harbours and ports, for the commercialization of the St. Lawrence Seaway and ferry services and other matters related to maritime trade and transport and amending the ''Pilotage Act'' and amending and repealing other Acts as a consequence."

The Act

The Act designated 19 ports as economically significant. Each of those ports was to have a

port authority In Canada and the United States, a port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other t ...

created for it. The Act made provisions to allow additional ports to have port authorities created to oversee their operation. The Act downloaded the mandate to oversee the operation of 150 smaller ports to the provinces or municipalities in which they were contained. Thirty-four remote ports remain under direct supervision by the

Department of Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

. An exception was made for the port facilities at

Churchill, Manitoba Churchill is a town in northern Manitoba, Canada, on the west shore of Hudson Bay, roughly from the Manitoba–Nunavut border. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname ...

, North America's only port on the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

connected to the North American Railroad Grid. The Port of Sydney, Nova Scotia, is also not part of this system. The

Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. It forms a key section of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. Traversing the Niagara Peninsula from Port Weller in St. Catharines t ...

, which is part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, is regulated under the ''Fishing and Recreational Harbours Act'' (R.S., 1985, c. F-24), which falls to the

Department of Fisheries and Oceans Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO; french: Pêches et Océans Canada, MPO), is a department of the Government of Canada that is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Canada's economic, ecological and sc ...

Port Dalhousie Port Dalhousie is a community in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Known for its waterfront appeal, it is home to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and is historically significant as the terminus for the first three (19th century) routes of the ...

is subject to the ''Fishing and Recreational Harbours Regulations'', while

Port Colborne Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after S ...

falls under the ''Ontario Fishery Regulations''. Responsibility for the construction and operation of

canals Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or river engineering, engineered channel (geography), channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport watercraft, vehicles (e.g. ...

had been given to the

Department of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

at the time of

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

, with the canals of the

United Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

having been previously operated by that colony's Department of Public Works. Since 1995, the

Minister of Public Works and Government Services The minister of public services and procurement (french: ministre des services publics et de l’approvisionnement) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the Government of Canada's "common service ...

Canada has taken care of these affairs. A vestigial reminder of the past is that the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

, which once was an important part of the economy with for example the

Ottawa River timber trade The Ottawa River timber trade, also known as the Ottawa Valley timber trade or Ottawa River lumber trade, was the nineteenth century production of wood products by Canada on areas of the Ottawa River and the regions of the Ottawa Valley and weste ...

, and "all canals or other cuttings for facilitating such navigation, and all dams, slides, piers, booms, embankments and other works of what kind or nature soever in the channel or waters" is wholly governed under this Ministry's ''An Act respecting certain works on the Ottawa River''. Most of the other heritage waterways of Ontario and a few in Quebec are governed by

Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...

under the guidance of the

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

. The Act is, from time to time, supplemented by Regulations and Letters Patent published in the ''

Canada Gazette The ''Canada Gazette'' (french: Gazette du Canada) is the official government gazette of the Government of Canada. It was first published on October 2, 1841. While it originally published all acts of the Parliament of Canada, it later also publ ...

''.

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...

maintains a helpful list of its "recent publications", which documents, among other things, the land transactions of the various Port Authorities. The equivalent phrase to the English "Port Authority" is the French Administration Portuaire, so that one would google for "Administration Portuaire de Saguenay" or other Quebec emplacements. A list of board member appointments to Port Authorities can be found at the respective individual Governor in Council Appointments appointments-nominations.gc.ca webpages of each organisation.Governor in Council Appointments: list of "Federal Organisations by Portfolio", see "Transport"
/ref> The

alone appoints the Chair of the Board, while in consultation with the Minister, the remaining Board members are selected by "users" of the Port. A "user" is determined as specified under the legislation, and cannot include City Councillors, civil servants or directors of Port customers. Each Authority by now should have its own domain name website, at which can most likely be found copies of the Letters Patent and other legal documents. An Act for making the system of Canadian ports competitive, efficient and commercially oriented, providing for the establishing of port authorities and the divesting of certain harbours and ports, for the commercialization of the St. Lawrence Seaway and ferry services and other matters related to maritime trade and transport and amending the Pilotage Act and amending and repealing other Acts as a consequence.

Recent activity

* On 18 June 2019, the Hamilton Port Authority and the Oshawa Port Authority were amalgamated * On 18 February 2012, Letters Patent were issued to promote the Oshawa Harbour Commission to a Port Authority.Canada Gazette archive — Vol. 146, No. 7 — 18 Feb 2012: "CANADA MARINE ACT: Letters Patent issued to the Oshawa Port Authority"
/ref> * On 25 May 2013, the ''

'' published Letters Patent to announce a transaction of the

Prince Rupert Port Authority The Port of Prince Rupert is a seaport managed by the Prince Rupert Port Authority that occupies of land and water along of waterfront. The port is located in Prince Rupert Harbour in the North Coast Regional District of British Columbia. The P ...

* On 16 November 2012, a project document was released about the Saguenay Port Authority intermodal container plan, which will impact the village of Tadoussac, and which needed the support of

Denis Lebel Denis Lebel (born May 26, 1954) is a Canadian politician and who served as mayor of Roberval, Quebec and deputy leader of the Official Opposition. Lebel was born in Roberval, Quebec. Political career Lebel was elected to the House of Commo ...

, MP for

Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean (formerly known as Roberval) was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1949 until 2015. The riding was created in 1947 from parts of Lake St-John—Ro ...

and

from May 2011. This project was planned forge a 12.5 km link from

Tadoussac Tadoussac () is a village in Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saguenay and Saint Lawrence rivers. The indigenous Innu call the place ''Totouskak'' (plural for ''totouswk'' or ''totochak'') meaning "bosom", probably in reference to the t ...

with the trans-Canada rail line at Saguenay.Saguenay Port Authority: "What's New" page
/ref> * On 9 February 2013, the ''Canada Gazette'' published Letters Patent to announce the purchase of lands for the Saguenay Port Authority.Canada Gazette archives 9 February 2013, see "DEPARTMENT of TRANSPORT"
/ref> * On 25 May 2013, the ''Canada Gazette'' published Letters Patent to announce six purchases and one sale of the Saguenay Port Authority. * On 2 November 2013, the ''Canada Gazette'' published Letters Patent that signified the sale of lands under control of the

Thunder Bay Port Authority The Thunder Bay Port Authority is a port authority in Thunder Bay, Ontario, which was created by the ''Canada Marine Act'' of 1998. The 19 port authorities created by the act were 19 of the 20 most economically significant ports in Canada. The por ...

to Noma Brokerage Ltd. * On January 1, 2008, the Vancouver Port Authority,

Fraser River Port Authority The Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the fourth largest in North America by tonnes of cargo, facilitating trade between Canada and more than 170 world economies. The port is managed by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, whic ...

and North Fraser Port Authority were amalgamated. * On 16 March 2013, the ''Canada Gazette'' published Letters Patent that signified the termination of a leasehold arrangement at Goyeau Street for the Headquarters of the Windsor Port Authority, and the acquisition of a replacement at Sandwich Street.Canada Gazette archives 16 Mar 2013, see "DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT"
/ref>

CMA Port Authorities

References

{{cite news , url = http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/about/corporate.aspx , title = Port Metro Vancouver , accessdate = 2014-01-03 , archivedate = 2009-01-23 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20090123160017/http://portmetrovancouver.com/about/corporate.aspx , url-status = dead , quote = In June 2006, the Federal Minister of Transport invited the Fraser River Port Authority, the North Fraser Port Authority and the Vancouver Port Authority to examine port amalgamation. The three port authorities subsequently commissioned a report on the potential benefits of an integrated port authority for the Lower Mainland. The report recommended that the three port authorities integrate to form the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. Canadian federal legislation 1998 in Canadian law Water transport in Canada Canadian transport law