About / History
About / History of the Port
Hamilton Harbour is a naturally protected body of water that was created during the last glaciation period. Its watershed comprises an area of 500 square kilometers which is encompassed by a shoreline measuring 45 kilometers in length. The harbour is accessible from Lake Ontario through a short channel known as the Burlington Shipping Canal.
By the early twentieth century, City Council recognized that harbour property could no longer be effectively administered on its own. Rapid commercial and industrial expansion had clearly dictated the need for a separate governing body to handle the increasing complexities of Harbour management.
In 1911, City Council petitioned the Federal Government to fund an independent agency which would assume executive administration of harbourfront activity. In consideration of this appeal, the City of Hamilton and Ottawa came to an agreement whereby governance of the port would vest in a newly created public commission. Consequently, on April 1st, 1912, an Act of Parliament created the Hamilton Harbour Commissioners (HHC), consisting of three Commissioners - two appointed by the Federal Government and one appointed by Hamilton City Council.
The long-awaited completion of the Welland Ship Canal in 1932 brought a tremendous boost in shipping to Hamilton industry. Anticipating the arrival of larger Great Lakes vessels and ocean freighters, the Commissioners had already widened and deepened the canal entrance from Lake Ontario into Hamilton Harbour. In order to accommodate the huge ore and coal ships which now had direct access to Harbour waters, the Steel Company of Canada and the Hamilton By-Product Coke Ovens constructed larger docks. The result: between 1929 and 1934 total tonnage in the harbour doubled from one to two million tonnes annually, making Hamilton the fourth-busiest port in the country, behind Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto.
When the St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, the first ship travelling up the new system berthed in Hamilton. Cargo tonnage after the first year of Seaway operation was higher in Hamilton than at any other Canadian or U.S. Port on the Great Lakes.
On May 1, 2001, the 89 year history of the Hamilton Harbour Commissioners came to a quiet conclusion and the new Hamilton Port Authority came to life. Coincidentally, it was later discovered that it had been exactly 89 years to the day since Messrs. Guy, Wallace and Clark had sworn their oaths of office as the first Commissioners of Hamilton Harbour.
Today, the Port of Hamilton handles over 12 million tons of cargo and is visited by over 700 vessels each year. This ranks Hamilton as the busiest of all Canadian Great Lakes ports.