Seaway Public Safety Notice: Closing period for the 2025 Navigation Season

Closing Period for the 2025 Navigation Season – Public Safety Notice

The Seaway entities, both the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (GLS) and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) would like to advise the shipping community that it has issued a public notice regarding ice clearing activities to support the safety of people and commercial navigation.

The notice is as follows:

The St. Lawrence Seaway is operating under extreme winter conditions, particularly in the Montreal–Lake Ontario corridor, where ice formation and winter navigation activities are ongoing. Vessels are still moving through certain sections of the system. The movement of ships can generate waves, water level fluctuations, and pressure changes beneath the ice, creating unstable and unpredictable conditions near navigation channels, even where the ice may appear solid. Members of the public are reminded that it is unsafe to be on the ice near navigation channels. Ice fishing, snowmobiling, and the use of all-terrain vehicles near these areas pose a serious safety risk. The public is urged to avoid the ice near navigation channels and to follow all local safety advisories. The safety of people and the protection of critical infrastructure remain the Seaway’s top priorities.

A notice will be issued when the navigation season is closed