The Port of Toronto is an

inland port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers publ ...

on the northwest shoreline of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. The port covers over of land on the eastern shore of the

Toronto Harbour Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a natural harbour, protected from Lake Ontario waves by the Toronto Islands. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational b ...

, in an area known as the

Port Lands The Port Lands (also known as Portlands) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada are an industrial and recreational neighbourhood located about 5 kilometres south-east of downtown, located on the former Don River delta and most of Ashbridge's Bay. Approxi ...

. The port includes several facilities, including Marine Terminal 51, Warehouse 52, and the

International Marine Passenger Terminal International Marine Passenger Terminal is a cruise ship passenger terminal located in the Port of Toronto at 8 Unwin Avenue in Port Lands, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The facility is operated by PortsToronto. History The terminal was opened ...

. The Port of Toronto is operated by

PortsToronto The Toronto Port Authority (TPA), doing business as PortsToronto (PT), is a port authority that is responsible for the management of the Port of Toronto, including the International Marine Passenger Terminal, and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. ...

. The first commercial ship to use Toronto as a port was in 1751. In 1793, governance of the port was assumed by the Province of Upper Canada. In 1911, the

federal government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in- ...

formed the

Toronto Harbour Commission The Toronto Harbour Commission (THC) was a joint federal-municipal government agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The agency managed Toronto Harbour as well as being responsible for major works along the Toronto waterfront. It built both ...

to operate the Port of Toronto. The Port of Toronto was expanded in the first half of the 20th century, with the expansion of the Port Lands, and the creation of new wharfs in present-day

East Bayfront East Bayfront, or the East Bayfront Precinct, is an emerging neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is currently undergoing a transformation from industrial use to mixed-use as part of Waterfront Toronto's plans to create a residential and ...

and other areas on the

Toronto waterfront The Toronto waterfront is the lakeshore of Lake Ontario in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans 46 kilometres between the mouth of Etobicoke Creek in the west and the Rouge River in the east. History Lake Ontario is a recent lake. A ...

. Port activity increased in the mid-20th century with the opening of the Fourth

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 ...

in 1932, and the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. In 1999, port operations were transferred from the Toronto Harbour Commission to the Toronto Port Authority (later renamed PortsToronto). In 2005, the International Marine Passenger Terminal was opened.

History

The first commercial shipments to arrive in the Toronto shipment arrived at

Fort Rouillé Fort Rouillé was a French trading post located in what is now Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Fort Rouillé was constructed by the French in 1751, building upon the success of a trading post they established in the area a year earlier, known as Fort T ...

in 1751. It took until 1793, when

was founded, for a shipping port to be established. In the early 1800s, the rise of

steam-powered vessel Steam-powered vessels include steamboats and steamships. Smaller steamboats were developed first. They were replaced by larger steamships which were often ocean-going. Steamships required a change in propulsion technology from sail to paddlewheel ...

s and the opening of the

Beauharnois Canal The Beauharnois Canal is located in southwestern Quebec, Canada. The canal is part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Located in Beauharnois-Salaberry Regional County Municipality within the cities of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Beauharnois, Saint-L ...

in 1985 and Williamsburg canal in 1849, made through travel by ship from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to Toronto possible, greatly increasing the usage of the port. In the 1850s, the

Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a ...

, the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

, and the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

commenced operations to the port along the Toronto waterfront, transforming the port into a intermodal cargo hub. In 1858, the Eastern Gap was dug out, making it easier to access the port from the east side of Lake Ontario. In 1911, the

was founded and from 1912 to 1925, the

, now PortsToronto, revealed a large overall plan for the Toronto waterfront. The plan saw the clearing of old piers, the filling of waterlots and the Port Lands area, where the current Port of Toronto of is located. In 1955, Marine Terminal 11 opened, it was the first of three 100,000-square-foot warehouses to be constructed. In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway was opened, making the port accessible to ocean freighters with a 27-foot draft. In 1962, the Toronto Harbour Commission took over operation of the marine terminals on the harbour. In 1966, Marine Terminal 51 opened at the entrance of the Shop Channel in the Port Lands. In 1969, Marine Terminal 35 became the busiest terminal in the harbour. and in 1985 intermodal operation commenced at the terminal. Through the 1990s, traffic to the port decreased and more and more cargo was being transported over rail and roads. The current operator of the port,

, was established in 1998 through the

Canada Marine Act The ''Canada Marine Act'' (CMA; french: Loi maritime du Canada) (the Act) was passed in 1998 under the stewardship of David Collenette, who was Canada's Minister of Transport (Canada), Minister of Transport at that time. It was intended to moderniz ...

to help modernize and consolidate the declining operations at the port. Before this, the Port of Toronto had been governed by the

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

, the Toronto Harbour Trust, and then the

. In 2005, the

was opened. It was originally meant to be used by a ferry service to

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, but the service never started and in 2012, the terminal started to be used as a port of call for

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

cruises.

Facilities

The port is made up of several port facilities, including Marine Terminal 51, Warehouse 52, and the International Marine Passenger Terminal. There are of deep-water wharfage for the loading and unloading of bulk products. Marine terminals include inside and outside storage, and some of berthing space for ships carrying general cargo.

Services

Salty Federal Margaree moored in Toronto, 2013 09 04 -a

Cargo

The tonnage of cargo passing through the port is made up mostly of sugar to the Redpath refinery and aggregate materials such as sand, gravel and salt. In 2015, the port received 1.7 million tonnes of cargo, 36th-largest in Canada. By comparison, Colborne, Ontario, shipped 1.671 million tonnes while

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

handled 13.66 million tonnes. Total tonnage handled in Canadian ports was 466.148 billion tonnes.Shipping in Canada 2011, p. 58

Passenger

Passenger traffic is handled by the ''International Marine Passenger Terminal''. The terminal was originally built as a passenger terminal for a ferry to

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, but the service was discontinued after less than one year. Since then, the terminal has seen growth as a port for

cruises.

Notes

References

{{Ports of Canada Transport in Toronto Ports and harbours of Ontario