Toronto Gears Up for Record-Breaking Year in Cruising
As the gateway to the Great Lakes Region of North America, Toronto may not have the year-round sunshine that lures cruise guests to the Caribbean by the millions.
Yet, this Canadian city – the largest in the nation and a stone’s throw from Niagara Falls – wrapped up a solid 2024 cruise season.
The city saw 34 cruise ships dock at the Port of Toronto bringing nearly 18,000 passengers to explore its urban charm.
In fact, those cruises, alongside bustling cargo operations, injected over $463 million into Toronto’s economy, with 2025 already lining up to be even bigger and better.
Now, the Port of Toronto, which oversees the Outer Harbour Marina, Marine Terminals 51 and 52, and the Cruise Ship Terminal, is gearing up for a wave of a season.
“The Port of Toronto is poised for another strong year, with the return of Victory Cruise Lines to the Great Lakes and a busy cruise season ahead,” said PortsToronto’s new Vice President, Marine, Captain Satinder Singh.
During its 2025 cruise season, which runs from April through October, the port expects a parade of 48 passenger vessels – a number that will best its record 45 ships received in 2023.
Though both 2023 and 2024 saw nearly 18,000 cruise guest arrivals, the upcoming spike in ship visits will boost its yearly passenger count to over 20,000 in 2025 for the first time in its history.
Cruise the Great Lakes, a promotional push from the region’s governors and premiers, projects the 2025 cruise season will funnel over $200 million into the regional economy, with ripple effects benefiting Toronto and additional ports and communities.
Added RJ Steenstra, president and CEO of PortsToronto, “The Port of Toronto remains a resilient and essential hub for Ontario’s economy.”
Steenstra was quick to spotlight strategic investments aimed at rehabilitating and modernizing the port’s infrastructure to support the increase in cruise ship passenger volumes while remaining committed to sustainability “and the prosperity of the Greater Toronto Area.”
Growing Despite Size Limits
Nestled in Eastern Canada, the Port of Toronto might not match the might of Quebec’s Port of Montreal and Port of Quebec and Nova Scotia’s Port of Halifax, all of which can handle larger cruise ships.
Instead, Toronto’s terminal can host just one cruise ship at a time, welcoming vessels specifically designed to weave through the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway’s tighter waterways.
Capped by the Seaway’s limits, the port can accommodate ships up to about 740 feet in length, effectively keeping out the larger vessels that carry thousands of passengers.
Yet, the excitement is there as Canada’s cruise ports all experience a surge of cruise passengers.
Read Also: Why Smaller Cruise Ships Can Be Better Than Big Ones
Toronto’s cruise season is set to kick off with the arrival of the 378-passenger Viking Cruises’ Viking Polaris.
Arriving for an overnight call on April 11, 2025, the 30,150-gross-ton ship precedes its sister ship, Viking Octantis, also carrying 378 guests, by a week. Both vessels will cruise the area through September.
The season is also filled with visits from Victory Cruise Lines, which specializes in Great Lakes cruising. Its Victory I and Victory II, each carrying 220 guests, will begin arriving in late April and early May, respectively.
The city will also welcome small-ship cruise line Pearl Sea Cruises’ Pearl Mist carrying up to 220 passengers, French cruise line Ponant’s 220-guest Le Champlain, and German cruise line Hapag-Lloyd’s 230-passenger Hanseatic Inspiration.
Victory I will be the last ship to grace the Port of Toronto on October 28, 2025.