September 10, 2026 | Category: Published Articles

Published in The Hill Times

Canada has set an ambitious goal to diversify trade and send more Canadian products to markets beyond the United States.

Across Western Canada, investments are helping make that possible. Ports and terminals are expanding, new export facilities are opening, and marine traffic on the West Coast is expected to grow substantially.

But another piece of trade infrastructure deserves more attention: the people required to make the system work. Canada is facing a serious shortage of trained mariners, and the gap between the workforce we have and the workforce we will need is growing.

The Canadian Marine Careers Foundation’s Canadian Seafarers Pathway Study found that 86 per cent of marine employers are having difficulty recruiting. The sector will need about 8,300 new workers by 2029 to meet demand and replace retirees—more than 30 per cent of its current workforce. Over half are highly skilled positions, including marine officers, engineers and deck crew.

The challenge is especially acute in Western Canada. Half of those workers will be needed in the Pacific region, where 81 per cent of employers report recruitment challenges and 67 per cent report difficulties with skills development.

Those numbers matter beyond the marine industry. International vessels carrying Canadian grain, energy products, minerals, containers and other goods through BC ports rely on marine pilots, tug masters and other skilled mariners to move safely through coastal waters and into terminals.

A forecast by Clear Seas suggests vessel traffic on Canada's Pacific coast could increase by 60 per cent by 2040, including significant growth in tanker and container traffic and strong growth on the North Coast.

While good for Canada, expanding trade capacity and connecting Canadian products with growing global markets will also require more people to move those vessels.

Mariners cannot be produced overnight. It takes 10 to 12 years of training and experience to become a ship-assist tug master, and 15 to 20 years to become a marine pilot. A mariner takes one hour to retire and about ten years to train a replacement.

Anyone interested in Canada's trade goals should be concerned about that mismatch. We shouldn't wait until new capacity is built and shipping traffic begins before preparing the workforce to back it. Workforce planning must take place alongside infrastructure planning.

There isn't a single solution.

Canada needs to introduce more young people and second-career workers to marine careers. Awareness remains low, even in communities near ports and waterways. The Canadian Marine Careers Foundation is working with industry, labour, governments and educators to change that through career outreach and educational programs.

But recruitment alone will not solve the problem.

Canada's marine training system is expected to meet only 40 per cent of employer demand for key seafaring positions over the next five years. Training is expensive, specialized, and often geographically inaccessible. For someone in Prince Rupert or another remote community, advancing a marine career can mean travelling to the Lower Mainland or Vancouver Island while also covering accommodation and living expenses.

Governments and industry should explore how training can be expanded and delivered closer to where workers are needed, including hybrid delivery, simulation and additional training capacity.

The existing workforce shortage is also making it harder for mariners to advance. When employers are struggling to crew vessels, experienced employees cannot easily leave to pursue additional education, while limited training berths constrain the sea time required for higher certifications.

Modern simulation offers another opportunity. It cannot replace experience at sea, but greater recognition of competency-based training could help mariners develop skills more efficiently while maintaining Canada's high safety standards.

Finally, we need to recognize marine as the strategically important, in-demand sector it is. That means better access to workforce and training programs, renewed support for marine training, and stronger coordination among governments, employers, labour and educational institutions.

Canada has an enormous opportunity ahead. We are investing in ports, terminals, railways and other infrastructure to expand trade capacity, diversify markets and strengthen supply chain resilience.

But infrastructure alone does not move goods. If Canada wants to move more products to international markets, workforce development must be part of our trade strategy.

The vessels are coming. The question is whether we will have the people ready to move them.