The city is improving the ferry terminals this summer—and that means more delays

Construction is underway on the east side of the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal to build new infrastructure for electric ferries. In a June post on X, the city said the hub is “entering its electric era”—before including a picture of an ugly fence and the surrounding work, pleading with Torontonians to “excuse the mess and noise.”

The city says that regular ferry service will continue during this summer. However, given past issues with overcrowding and lineups, having part of the terminal segmented off likely won’t help ease the congestion.

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“Every effort will be made to minimize any disruption of service to and from the Toronto Islands as a result of this construction as well as to minimize inconveniences that come about with any construction and improvement work,” the city said in a statement to Toronto Life. On the plus side, some long-term relief is coming. Commercial vehicle service to Centre Island from Billy Bishop Airport will run this year from mid-September to early December.

The terminal’s construction will be phased by zone, starting with the vehicle and passenger dock plus adjacent areas on the east side of the compound, which happens to be at the foot of Yonge Street. Construction on the west side will begin in the winter of 2025, lasting another year, meaning heavily trafficked areas of the terminal will be closed for construction in the summer of 2026, when the world will descend on Toronto for the FIFA World Cup.

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The new charging towers can power ferries for the length of a round trip in about six minutes. Construction is expected to last until December of 2026, while the first new ferry to carry passengers and cars is expected that November, with capacity for 14 vehicles and 615 passengers. That will be followed by a second passenger-only ferry in the spring of 2027 that can carry up to 1,300 passengers—nearly triple the capacity of the ferry it will replace.

But, so far, transition to the new ferries has not been smooth. The city commissioned the electric ferries before figuring out their charging infrastructure, delaying their introduction by years. The cost of the new ferries has also jumped from $25 million to $92 million, plus an extra $49 million for the charging towers, bringing the total cost to more than $141 million.