Survey of Marine Vessels Operators 2024

Why are we conducting this survey?

This survey collects information from water carriers operating in Canada that is essential for analysis of the marine sector. The results of this survey will help governments and industry better understand and assess the full scope of the impacts of the domestic marine transportation sector on the Canadian economy, the supply chain, and the sector's competitiveness. This survey will evaluate the nature of business of marine vessel operators across the country and address the need for additional data on water transportation and water non-transportation activities, given that the marine sector in Canada makes a significant contribution to provincial, regional, and national economies.

Other important information

Authorization to collect this information

Data are collected under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Chapter S-19.
Confidentiality.

By law, Statistics Canada is prohibited from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent, or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Statistics Canada will use the information from this survey for statistical purposes only.

Record linkages

To enhance the data from this survey and to reduce the response burden, Statistics Canada may combine the acquired data with information from other surveys or from administrative sources.

Contact the Office of Privacy Management and Information Coordination (OPMIC) with questions related to the data sharing statements
and agreements.

To reduce the response burden, Statistics Canada has entered into data sharing agreements with provincial and territorial statistical agencies and other government organizations, which have agreed to keep the data confidential and use them only for statistical purposes. Statistics Canada will only share data from this survey with those organizations that have demonstrated a requirement to use the data.
Section 11 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with provincial and territorial statistical agencies that meet certain conditions. These agencies must have the legislative authority to collect the same information, on a mandatory basis, and the legislation must provide substantially the same provisions for confidentiality and penalties for disclosure of confidential information as the Statistics Act. Because these agencies have the legal authority to compel businesses to provide the same information, consent is not requested and businesses may not object to the sharing of the data.

For this survey, there are Section 11 agreements with the provincial and territorial statistical agencies of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon.

The shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction of the respective province.
or territory.

Section 12 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with federal, provincial or territorial government organizations. Under Section 12, you may refuse to share your information with any of these organizations by writing a letter of objection to the Chief Statistician, specifying the organizations with which you do not want Statistics Canada to share your data and mailing it to the following address:

Chief Statistician of Canada
Statistics Canada
Attention of Director, Centre for Special Business Projects
150 Tunney's Pasture Driveway
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0T6
You may also contact us by email at infostats or by fax at 1-514-496-4879.

For this survey, there are Section 12 agreements with the statistical agencies of Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Reporting period information

  1. For this survey, report information for this business' most recent 12-month fiscal period.
    Note: For this survey, the end date should fall between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024.
    Please complete this survey for the fiscal period reported below.

  • Start date
    • Example: YYYY-MM-DD
  • End date
    • Example: YYYY-MM-DD

Business information

  1. What is the form of ownership of this business?

  • Sole proprietorship
  • Incorporated company
  • Crown corporation
  • Government
  • Other
    • Specify other form of ownership:

  1. On March 31 2024, how many vessels did this business own?
    Include only vessels of at least 15 gross registered tonnage.
    Exclude private pleasure craft, fishing boats and defence vessels.
    Enter "0" if this business did not own any vessels.

  • Number of vessels owned

  1. How many vessels did this business operate in total during its last fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024?
    Please factor owned and chartered vessels.
    Include only vessels of at least 15 gross registered tonnage.
    Exclude private pleasure craft, fishing boats and defence vessels.
    Enter "0" if this business did not operate any vessels.

  • Number of vessels in operation
    If this business owns 0 vessels AND operates 0 vessels, then exit survey as out of scope.

  1. During the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024, were any vessels chartered in for this business' operations or were this business' vessels chartered out for another business' operations?
    Chartered in: Process by which an individual or a business entity, called the charterer, rents a vessel from a shipowner for a specific voyage or period of time.
    Chartered out: Process by which a shipowner rents a vessel to a charterer for a specific voyage or a period of time.
    Select all that apply.

  • Chartered in for this business' operations
    Please indicate the number of vessels that were chartered in by this business during its last fiscal year.
    • Number of vessels chartered in
  • Chartered out for another business' operations
    Please indicate the number of chartered out agreements by this business during its last fiscal year.
    If a vessel is chartered to different businesses during the year, please count every chartering.
    • Number of chartered out agreements
    Please indicate the revenue earned in the last fiscal year from chartering out vessels.
  • Revenue earned from chartering out vessels
    OR
  • None of the above

  1. During the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024, did this business own or control any other businesses engaged in foreign marine activities?
    Control: Having enough voting shares in a business to make all corporate decisions.

  • Yes
    • Where were those businesses located?
      Please select all that apply.
      • Inside Canada
      • Outside Canada
  • No

Type of operation

  1. During the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024, was this business engaged in the transportation of commodities or passengers?
    Please select all that apply.
  • Commodities
  • Passengers
    OR
  • No transportation activities
    e.g., drayage, research, construction

Vessel operations

  1. During the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024, which of the following were purchased for consumption for vessel operations only?
    Include sources of power and maintenance oil.
    Select all that apply.

  • Fuel oil
    Include bunker C oil, diesel oil and gas oil.
    Please indicate the type of fuel oil that was purchased.
    Select all that apply.
    • Bunker C oil
    • Diesel oil
    • Gas oil
    • Other
    • Specify other type of fuel oil:
      OR
    • Do not know
  • Gasoline
  • Lubricating oil
  • Liquified natural gas (LNG)
  • Biodiesel or biofuel
  • Hydrogen
  • Ammonia
  • Methanol
  • Electric
  • Other
    • Specify other source of power or maintenance oil 1
    • Specify other source of power or maintenance oil 2
    • Specify other source of power or maintenance oil 3
    OR
  • Do not know

If Government or Crown Corporation selected in Q2, go to Q10. Otherwise, go to Q9.

Operating revenue from vessel operations

  1. What was the total revenue from vessel operations for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024?
    Include revenue from transportation of commodities, towing of commodities, towing of log booms, transport of passengers (vehicles and passenger fares), chartering, cost compensation from parent companies, and water transport subsidies.
    Exclude revenue from concession.
    Please report in Canadian dollars, rounded to the closest dollar.
    If exact value is not available, please provide your best estimate.

  • Total revenue from vessel operations

Operating expenses

  1. What were this business' total vessel operating expenses for the following items for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024?
    Please report in Canadian dollars, rounded to the nearest dollar.
    If exact values are not available, please provide your best estimate.

  • Vessel crew remuneration
    Include gross payroll, mandatory contributions and non-mandatory contributions.
    • Total expenses (rounded to the nearest CAN$)
  • Other vessel operating expenses
    Include power sources, insurance, tolls, maintenance and repairs, towage, communications, etc.
    • Total expenses (rounded to the nearest CAN$)
  • Total vessel operating expenses

Employment

  1. During the peak season of this business' last fiscal year, how many employees did this business employ?
    Exclude contract workers.
    If an employee works both inside and outside Canada, please include them in the category in which they work more often.
    Please enter "0" if you did not have employees in one of the locations.

  • Number of employees inside Canada
  • Number of employees outside Canada

If commodities is selected in Q7, go to Q12. Otherwise, go to Q14.

Freight information

  1. Please indicate the type of freight that this business transported during the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024.
    Select all that apply.

  • Containerized freight
  • Dry bulk cargo
  • Liquid bulk cargo
  • Project or breakbulk cargo
  • General cargo
  • Other cargo
    • Specify the other cargo:
    OR
  • None of the above

If Containerized freight selected in Q12, go to Q13. Otherwise, go to Q14. 

  1. For the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024, please report the revenue from the transportation of containerized freight and the number of T.E.U. and tonnage of the transported freight.
    Please report the revenue in Canadian dollars, rounded to the nearest dollar.
    If exact numbers are not available, please provide your best estimate.

  • Number of T.E.U.
  • Tonnage
  • Revenue in CAN$

If dry bulk cargo, liquid bulk cargo, project or breakbulk cargo, general cargo or, other cargo is selected in Q12, go to Q14. Otherwise go to Q15.

  1. For the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024, please report the revenue from the transportation of freight (excluding containerized freight) and the tonnage of the transported freight.
    Please report the revenue in Canadian dollars, rounded to the nearest dollar.
    Exclude the tonnage of containerized freight that was reported in question 13.
    If exact numbers are not available, please provide your best estimate.

  • Tonnage
  • Revenue in CAN$

If passengers is selected at Q7, go to Q15. Otherwise, go to Q16.

Ferry and sightseeing services

  1. For the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024, please indicate the types of services related to passengers and vehicles provided by this business.
    Select all that apply.

  • Ferry services
    Include shuttle services.
    Please indicate the types of ferry services that were offered by this business.
    Select all that apply.
    • Passenger vehicles
    • Commercial vehicles or trailers
    • Passenger and commercial vehicles
    • Passengers (where each passenger is charged a separate fee)
      e.g., cyclists, pedestrians
  • Sightseeing services
    Exclude cruise ships.
  • Other type of passenger transportation services
    Specify the other type of passenger transportation services:
    OR
  • None of the above

Supply chain challenges

  1. Please indicate the supply chain challenges the water carrier portion of this business experienced during its fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2024.
    Select all that apply.

  • Drayage scheduling uncertainty
    Drayage: transportation of shipping containers or cargo over short distances, within the same geographical area, to transition between modes of transportation (e.g., from a ship to a train or a truck) or from a port to a nearby warehouse, storage area or distribution centre.
  • Seafarer shortages
  • Labour challenges at ports or terminals
  • Delays because of regulatory requirements
    e.g., inspection, permits
  • Delays at ports because of other factors
    • Specify the other factors:
  • Extreme weather events
  • Irregular water level
  • Other supply chain challenge
    • Specify the other supply chain challenge:
    OR
  • No supply chain challenges
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