Cruise Ships and Waterfront Revitalization

Cruise Ships

The City of Port Colborne is excited to embark yet again on a new season of Great Lakes cruising. From late April through to the end of October, ships from Viking Expeditions, Pearl Seas Cruises, Ponant, Plantours Cruises, and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises are scheduled to make 54 calls to Port Colborne. Arrival and departure dates and times can be found in the 2024 Cruise Ship Schedule.

As one of many bi-national ports of call on the Great Lakes, Port Colborne is ideally positioned at the southern end of the Welland Canal to receive cruise ships heading to or from Toronto. During every call, several hundred passengers and crew disembark the ship to explore their newfound surroundings and participate in pre-planned onshore excursions.

Using the advice of experts in Great Lakes cruising, and in collaboration with Port Colborne’s wharf operator and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, City staff continue to coordinate the many activities that come with managing a cruise ship hub and welcoming new visitors. Public engagement remains vital to the success of this initiative for all involved. Input from key partners and stakeholders is regularly sought in an effort to help identify limitations and challenges as well as opportunities and solutions.

The City of Port Colborne is excited to be receiving an investment of $250,000 this year for improvements to wharf 16. These improvements will increase the number of cruise ships docked in Port Colborne and continue to allow the port to meet federal regulatory and safety standards required for the disembarkation of passengers of cruise ships.

Waterfront Revitalization

Guided by the City’s vision for the future, as well as significant public and private sector investment in Port Colborne’s waterfront, revitalization is a core area of strategic focus. Staff follow a planning framework, which includes design principles and sustainable land use concepts, to help coordinate and integrate currently planned upgrades with prospective opportunities for the industrial, commercial, and residential development of valuable waterfront land.

The City has a number of projects and initiatives planned around the waterfront, and one such example is the creation of a cultural, recreational, and tourism hub in the area of King Street and Sugarloaf Street. The City wishes to thank the federal government for providing a $750,000 contribution to this project through the Canada Community Revitalization Fund. Project updates can be found on this webpage and at any forthcoming public engagement events.

In another showing of support for Port Colborne’s waterfront, the federal government has made a $22.7 million investment – through the National Trade Corridors Fund – to support one half of a $45.3 million wharf rehabilitation project led by the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. Three wharves located on the west side of the Welland Canal and at the south end of King Street will be put back into service to ensure the supply chains in Ontario and throughout Canada remain strongly connected to global markets.