Report outlines proposed Toronto 'seabus' route, pilot planned for summer
Waterfront Toronto released a report detailing a proposed harbour passenger service from Ontario Place to the Outer Harbour Marina, with an island stop and a scaled pilot due this summer.
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By Torontoer Staff
A new report from Waterfront Toronto lays out a proposed marine passenger service that would run a circuit from Ontario Place to the Outer Harbour Marina, with mainland stops and calls on the Toronto Islands. The agency, working with the city and the Toronto Port Authority, is planning a scaled proof-of-concept pilot this summer.
The CPCS consultant study, completed in October and recently posted to Waterfront Toronto’s online library, evaluates five route options and provides projected costs, ridership estimates and fare scenarios for a full seabus operation.
Preferred route and how it would work
Waterfront Toronto, the Toronto Port Authority and the city favour a circuit that links Ontario Place with the Outer Harbour Marina, servicing the north side of the Toronto Islands and several mainland stops. The preferred alignment avoids the rougher waters of the outer harbour while giving more options for island access, where demand often outstrips capacity on existing ferries and water taxis.
The consultant model lays out an eight-stop circuit with an almost two-hour total one-way travel time. By 2050, operating costs for a version of that route are projected at about $4.3 million a year, with one-time infrastructure costs near $4.1 million. The analysis estimates the service would break even at roughly $12 per one-way fare.
It’s not about a ferry to the islands for an afternoon barbecue, it’s about connecting points of interest and places of work to a marine transit system that gets people off the roads, onto a boat, and to the places they need to be.
RJ Steenstra, president and CEO, Toronto Port Authority
Demand, development and long-term outlook
The consultants warn current ridership forecasts are too low to make any of the proposed routes commercially viable today. However, the report argues that waterfront development over the next few decades could change that calculus. The five-kilometre stretch from Ontario Place to the eastern waterfront currently serves about 76,000 residents and attracts roughly 63 million annual visitor trips. With planned projects at Ookwemin Minising, East Bayfront and the mega-spa at Ontario Place, those figures are forecast to rise to about 119,000 residents and 115 million visitor trips by 2050.
Under that growth scenario the preferred circuit could see peak-month ridership near 154,000 by 2050, the report estimates. The consultants suggest that planning begin now, even if full service is not commercially sustainable until the 2030s or mid-2030s.
We definitely are supportive of adding more opportunities for people to get on and get off boats at more different parts around the harbour.
Tim Kocur, executive director, Waterfront Business Improvement Area
Pilot planned for summer, timed with FIFA World Cup 2026
Waterfront Toronto plans a pilot service this summer that will operate along the northern side of the harbour, connecting Portland Slip, the Harbourfront Centre area and the new Biidaasige Park. The pilot will likely use smaller, existing craft such as water taxis rather than the 50- to 75-passenger vessels envisioned for a full seabus.
The agency is finishing a request for proposals to find an operator for the pilot and hopes to complete the process by February. The pilot is timed to be in place ahead of Toronto’s first FIFA World Cup 2026 game on June 12, when waterfront visitor numbers are expected to rise.
The way to get there is not to just try to do it, it’s to do it through these incremental stages. I actually think we have a good road map to try and test this out and deliver it in a realistic way.
Chris Glaisek, chief planning and design officer, Waterfront Toronto
What's next
The pilot will collect data on passenger demand, preferred stop locations and operational constraints, information the consultants say was missing from earlier attempts to start marine passenger lines in Toronto. That evidence will be used to refine route planning and assess whether larger vessels and infrastructure investments make sense as waterfront development progresses.
- Preferred route: Ontario Place to Outer Harbour Marina, north side of the Toronto Islands included
- Estimated 2050 operating cost: about $4.3 million per year
- One-time infrastructure estimate: about $4.1 million
- Break-even fare estimated at roughly $12 one-way
- Pilot: summer service using smaller craft between Portland Slip, Harbourfront Centre and Biidaasige Park
Officials and local business groups say the seabus could change how people move along the lakefront as neighbourhoods densify. For now, the pilot and the consultant data will be the first test of whether a regular cross-harbour passenger service can grow into a viable transit option.
Toronto waterfrontseabusWaterfront TorontoToronto Port Authoritypublic transit
