Montréal To Launch First Winter Cruises In 2027 As Port Authority And Tourisme Montréal Renew Partnership, Set To Boost Tourism In Canada: What You Need To Know

Published on October 26, 2025

The Port of Montréal and Tourisme Montréal have announced that nan metropolis will motorboat its first-ever wintertime cruise season in February 2027, marking a caller section successful its maritime tourism history. French luxury line Ponant Explorations will make Montréal a turnaround port for 2 inaugural fifteen-day St. Lawrence River voyages, sailing on February 13 and February 27, 2027.​

The announcement was made during the inaugural Montréal Cruise Forum held on October 22, wherever nan 2 organizations besides unveiled a renewed three-year strategical partnership to support sustainable maturation crossed nan city’s cruise industry. The arena gathered over fifty tourism, port, and business leaders to talk Montréal’s improvement arsenic a year‑round cruise hub along nan St. Lawrence River.

New Partnership to Drive Sustainable and Year-Round Cruise Growth

The three-year business agreement between the Port of Montréal and Tourisme Montréal will fortify collaborative efforts under Croisières Montréal, nan associated inaugural formed successful 2011 to coordinate and beforehand nan region’s cruise activity. The collaboration underscores Montréal’s extremity of expanding cruise offerings passim each 4 seasons, driving economic development, visitant experience, and biology stewardship.​

The revised statement intends to:

• Develop Montréal arsenic a four-season cruise destination through caller wintertime itineraries.
• Align cruise trading and infrastructure investments with nan city’s sustainable tourism vision.
• Support local organization partnerships that use from tourism spending.
• Encourage lower-emission larboard operations done power modulation initiatives led by the Montréal Port Authority (MPA).

Julie Gascon, President and CEO of nan MPA, emphasized nan Port’s committedness to maintaining Montréal’s position arsenic a leading St. Lawrence cruise destination with a attraction on sustainability and innovation.

Ponant to Launch nan City’s First Winter Voyages

The 2027 motorboat heralds a historical milestone as Ponant Explorations, renowned for its luxury expedition cruises, becomes the first usability to homeport successful Montréal during winter. The determination follows nan occurrence of Ponant’s St. Lawrence cruises, introduced successful 2025, which navigated Québec City, Saguenay, Gaspé, and nan Gulf of St. Lawrence.​

The new fifteen-day itinerary aboard Le Commandant Charcot, Ponant’s hybrid-electric polar vessel, will travel done the frozen St. Lawrence River, pinch scheduled calls at Gaspé, Saguenay Fjord, Belle Isle Strait, and Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Guests will research nan striking wintertime landscapes of boreal forests, ice-bound sportfishing villages, and distant valleys, offering a unsocial blend of polar exploration and Canadian coastal culture.

These cruises are expected to draw international travelers seeking Arctic-inspired experienceswithout leaving North America, reinforcing Montréal’s position arsenic a gateway to escapade tourism.

Economic Impact of Cruise Tourism successful Montréal

The Montréal Cruise Forum besides unveiled nan results of a study commissioned by nan St. Lawrence Cruise Association detailing nan economical value of nan sector. In 2024, cruise-related spending reached CAD dollar 52.3 million, of which:

• Dollar 38.3 million came from direct rider spending on accommodations, dining, entertainment, and transport, an mean of dollar six 100 thirty-two per passenger, the highest spending rateamong each St. Lawrence ports.
• Dollar fourteen million came from cruise statement expenditures, including fuel, larboard fees, and section provisioning services.​

The Port of Montréal reported a strong 2025 cruise season as well, pinch much than sixty 1000 passengers and unit members expected during nan summertime campaign. The play featured twenty-one ships representing thirteen cruise lines, including first-time visits from Regent Seven Seas’ Seven Seas Splendor, Silversea’s Silver Shadow, and Oceania Cruises’ Allura.​

Boosting Tourism and Local Development

The preamble of wintertime cruises is expected to extend Montréal’s tourism season, which traditionally peaks during summertime and fall. The inaugural complements Tourisme Montréal’s broader imagination of positioning nan metropolis arsenic a year-round destination for cultural, culinary, and experiential travel.

By operating during nan wintertime season, Montréal will entreaty to international travelers from France, Germany, and nan United States, cardinal root markets for cruise tourism on nan St. Lawrence. The cruises will not only showcase Canada’s wintertime scenery but besides increase occupancy rates for hotels, restaurants, and section attractions during nan city’s quietest tourer months.

The average rider stay in Montréal presently exceeds 2.3 nights pre- aliases post-cruise, and nan summation of caller itineraries is apt to further boost visitant spending successful neighborhoods like Old Montréal, The Plateau, and Downtown.

Yves Lalumière, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal, underscored that aligning larboard and tourism strategies ensures that Montréal remains competitory arsenic a turnaround port, wherever travelers statesman and extremity their voyages, starring to higher economical returns per visitor.

Port of Montréal Expansion: Preparing for nan Future

Beyond nan cruise initiative, the Port of Montréal is simultaneously advancing its major description task astatine Contrecœur, eastbound of nan city, to summation cargo and tourism capacity. The in‑water works, launched on October 9, 2025, are being completed by the CTCGP consortium, composed of Pomerleau and Aecon.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans Canada has approved an biology compensation scheme to sphere the copper redhorse’s feeding habitats along nan riverbanks, a type unsocial to nan St. Lawrence ecosystem.​

This improvement reinforces nan Port’s committedness to balancing economical maturation pinch biology protection, ensuring that Montréal remains astatine nan forefront of smart larboard infrastructure and responsible maritime tourism.

Enhanced Collaboration Through Croisières Montréal

Croisières Montréal, a collaborative entity spearheaded by nan Port and Tourisme Montréal, will proceed starring nan inaugural to merge cruise operations wrong nan city’s tourism framework. Its instruction includes:

• Coordinating shore‑side services and visitant experiences.
• Facilitating stakeholder collaboration among hoteliers, carrier providers, and taste institutions.
• Supporting economical sustainability for the Montréal maritime corridor, spanning from the St. Lawrence to nan Great Lakes.

By processing infrastructure for some accepted and expedition cruise markets, Croisières Montréal intends to position nan metropolis as the main homeport connected nan St. Lawrence River, connecting Great Lakes routes pinch Atlantic transits.

Strengthening Montréal’s Tourism Identity

With cruise tourism recovering powerfully post‑pandemic, Montréal’s diversified strategy cements its domiciled arsenic some a cultural gateway and a maritime destination. The upcoming winter cruise programme pinch Ponant exemplifies world recreation trends centered connected experiential, sustainable, and seasonal tourism.

The continued collaboration between Tourisme Montréal and the Port Authority underscores a shared committedness to economical renewal, organization inclusion, and biology responsibility. As Montréal prepares to invited wintertime cruisers in 2027, it reinforces different defining characteristic of its tourism identity, innovation that connects people, place, and purpose along the St. Lawrence River.