Ban on Large Cruise Ships in Canada

Summary#

The Regulations Maintaining the Safety of Persons in Ports and the Seaway (under the Canada Marine Act) temporarily ban large cruise ships from using Canadian ports and the St. Lawrence Seaway to reduce the risk of spreading COVID‑19 (SARS‑CoV‑2). They apply to cruise ships that can carry 500 or more people, came into force on registration (March 18, 2020), and are set to be repealed on June 30, 2020.

What it does#

• Prohibits cruise ships with capacity of 500 or more from:
  • navigating, mooring, or berthing in ports managed by port authorities, public ports, public port facilities, and the Seaway;
  • embarking or disembarking persons at those locations.
• Allows the federal Minister to grant exceptions if needed to meet international obligations, after consulting the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and if safety is still considered.
• Sets penalties for violations:
  • up to $5,000 for an individual;
  • up to $25,000 for a corporation or ship;
  • repeated daily penalties can apply if a breach continues.
• Economic estimates in the government’s analysis put the monetized cost of the ban between $43 million and $115 million, with a central estimate of about $94 million in lost local business activity over the three months.

Who's affected#

• Cruise lines and cruise ships capable of carrying 500 or more people.
• Port authorities, public ports and public port facilities across Canada.
• Port and Seaway workers (the analysis estimated about 12,900 workers connected to affected ports).
• Local businesses that serve cruise passengers and ships (tourism operators, restaurants, shops, fuel and supply businesses), especially in British Columbia, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces — with Vancouver and Victoria facing the largest share of estimated losses.
• Travellers who planned to board or visit on affected cruises.
• Northern and Indigenous communities were noted as potentially more vulnerable, though the regulation mainly targets the larger cruise ships and the Arctic season was already deferred.

Why it matters#

• The ban aims to reduce the chance that COVID‑19 cases on cruise ships would spread to port workers and nearby communities. Cruise ships have shown they can be hard to contain when an outbreak occurs.
• It provides short-term public-health protection but causes clear economic harm to businesses that depend on cruise traffic. The government calculated a sizable hit to local revenues and said some costs (like cancelled trips or rescheduling) were not fully quantified.
• The rule is temporary and targeted; the government kept open a narrow route for exceptions tied to international obligations and noted the estimates have uncertainty because many cruise cancellations were already happening.