Mission to Seafarers, Southern Ontario

General information

The Mission to Seafarers Southern Ontario cares for seafarers who arrive in the ports of Hamilton, Toronto and Oshawa, Ontario.

Southern Ontario is an important shipping hub and hundreds of ships visit our ports annually. In 2013, the Missions to Seafarers of Toronto, Hamilton and Oshawa joined together to better serve the needs of hundreds of seafarers working in the Great Lakes.

We are grateful to the seafaring community who deliver to our doors 90% of the goods of the world; from the spoon full of sugar that makes the medicine go down … to the cars we drive to work. Those who work the freighters face danger, isolation, loneliness and often many months far away from home.

We serve as their home away from home providing a safe and welcoming space that offers friendship, spiritual support, a hot meal and a cold drink, a place to call family and friends, connect through internet access, unwind with a movie or shoot a game of pool. We help people connect to medical services, deal with unfair working conditions, unburden to a sympathetic ear or enjoy the limited time they have on leave.