Ontario Marine Transportation Strategy

Ontario has developed an Ontario Marine Transportation Strategy (Strategy) for consultation. The Strategy outlines a path forward for supporting the performance and environmental sustainability of the marine sector by addressing key barriers to growth.

The Strategy will showcase Ontario’s leadership and outline its plan to:

• recognize the importance of marine transportation to Ontario’s multi-modal network
• outline and address key barriers to growth, as identified through extensive stakeholder engagement
• outline immediate provincial actions that set the foundation for future action
• identify areas that the province will continue to explore in the long term to support the performance of the sector

Potential environmental impacts of the Strategy include enhanced support for an environmentally sustainable marine sector and an overall greener provincial transportation network, including supporting green shipping corridors in the Great Lakes, short sea shipping, and pursuing green and alternative fuels research. These efforts will support the decarbonization of the marine sector, which may lead to a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions related to goods movement, and a greener marine sector.

Ontario also recognizes that marine transportation directly impacts people in Ontario using and relying on marine services, as well as water sources for daily life, including populations such as Northern and rural Ontarians and Indigenous communities. The Strategy’s areas of actions have been carefully developed considering diverse viewpoints guided by stakeholder and partner input.

The Strategy is anchored around four pillars that directly align with the key barriers to growth identified by marine sector stakeholders:

1. Strengthening marine's position in the multi-modal network
2. Supporting infrastructure and economic development
3. Investing in education, labour, and training
4. Greening marine transportation

To understand the marine sector’s needs and priorities, the Strategy has been informed by research, technical work, and a series of in-person and virtual engagement sessions carried out from Spring of 2022 to Spring of 2023.

The Ontario Marine Transportation Strategy is a living document that will continue to be shaped by ongoing engagement, consultation, and collaboration to remain responsive and relevant to the needs of the sector and the province. We are committed to continuing to work collaboratively with stakeholders, partners, and the general public to gather feedback, explore actions to implement under the Strategy, and identify new opportunities for improvement.

We invite everyone to participate in this process by sharing their feedback on the Strategy.

We look forward to working together to support the performance and prosperity of Ontario's marine sector.