Facts

By the Numbers

• 189 cargo ships delivered 2,311,616 million metric tonnes of goods to the Port of Toronto in 2023, including:
  • 796,644 metric tonnes of cement (an 11 per cent increase over 2022);
  • 606,060 metric tonnes of sugar;
  • 685,661 metric tonnes of salt;
  • 97,016 metric tonnes of aggregate; and,
  • 123,234 metric tonnes of steel products, including coil, pipe, and rebar.
• The 2.3 million metric tonnes of cargo delivered to the Port by ship last year took approximately 57,000, 40-tonne trucks off Toronto’s congested roads and highways.
• $463.5 million in economic activity generated by marine cargo at the Port in 2022.
• $79.1 million in taxes generated by cargo and vessel activity at the Port in 2022.
• 673 jobs directly generated by marine cargo and vessel activity at the Port of Toronto.
• 18,000 passengers welcomed to Toronto on 45 cruise ships in 2023.
• USD $200 million in economic value expected to be generated by cruising in the Great Lakes in 2024[1].
• $2 billion film industry thriving in Toronto.
• As one of Canada’s major commercial ports, the Port of Toronto helps to ensure the safe navigation of more than 7,000 recreational boaters; 100 lakers; dozens of Harbour tour vessels; visiting cruise ships; and 40-55 international or ocean-going ships per year.
• PortsToronto owns and operates Marine Terminal 51 and Warehouse 52 within the Port of Toronto.
• The 52-acre PortsToronto marine terminals facility has more than 225,000 square feet of warehouse space and over 30 acres of paved marshalling area, for short/long-term storage, warehousing and project staging.
• PortsToronto’s Cruise Ship Terminal will see 35 cruise ships visit over the 2024 season, bringing more than 18,000 passengers through Toronto.
• Serving primarily as a bulk cargo destination, the port moves goods from countries as far away as Germany, South Korea, China, Brazil, Australia, and the United States.
• In addition to its economic impact, increased imports through the port has a positive impact on the environment and traffic congestion given that the close to two million tonnes of cargo delivered by ship takes approximately 57,000, 40-tonne trucks off Toronto’s already congested roads and highways.
• Through PortsToronto’s Harbour Clean-Up Program, approximately 150 million pounds (more than 68,000 tonnes) of dredgate, debris and driftwood is removed from the Harbour each year – the equivalent weight of about 102 cars worth of material removed every day of the year.
• Each year, PortsToronto dredges approximately 40,000 cubic metres of material from the bottom of Keating Channel to reduce flooding risks from the Don River and prevent sediment build-up in the Inner Harbour. Each day of the year, a volume of material equivalent to 85 refrigerators is recovered.
  
  
  [1] Great Lakes Cruise Ship Industry Expected to Have $200M Economic Impact in 2024, Cruise the Great Lakes, March 4, 2024. Link.