Survey of Marine Vessel Operators

Detailed information for 2025

Statistics Canada is conducting this survey in collaboration with Transport Canada to produce statistical information on marine vessel operators in Canada.

• Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s)
• Description
• Data sources and methodology

Description

This survey collects information on commercial water carriers operating in Canada including financial and operational data about the type of vessel (passengers, commodities, cargo or freight), vessel operations, sources of power, employment, and freight type transported. The results of this survey will help governments and the industry better understand and assess the impacts of Canadian-based marine transportation service providers on the economy, supply chain, and the sector's competitiveness on an on-going basis. This survey will evaluate marine vessel operators across the country and address data gaps related to water transportation and non-transportation activities.

Reference period: Calendar year

Subjects

• Transportation
• Transportation by water

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population includes all businesses legally registered in Canada that operate marine vessels in Canadian waters and are part of Transport Canada's Canadian Register of Vessels. Off-shore (foreign) marine vessels are included if the revenues raised from such activities are reported by the Canadian operations of the business.

Excluded from the target population are businesses that operate private pleasure craft, fishing boats or defence vessels.

Instrument design

The collection instrument for this survey is an electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire is the result of collective input from stakeholders both internal and external to Statistics Canada.

Respondents are mailed or e-mailed a secure access code to respond to the electronic questionnaire.

Sampling

This is a census survey with a cross-sectional design.

Sampling unit
The sampling unit for this survey is an enterprise.

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: Pre-contact data collection: 2026-05-11 to 2026-05-29;
Main survey data collection: 2026-09-14 to 2026-12-18

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

Before the main electronic questionnaire is emailed, businesses are pre-contacted by telephone to confirm that they are in-scope for the survey based on whether they operate marine vessels in Canadian waters, to identify the person best able to respond to the questionnaire and to collect their contact information.

As a result of this pre-contact, electronic questionnaires will be sent to businesses for main survey data collection in September 2026.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .