What to Do If Your Boat Rental Toronto Service Cancels Last Minute: Tips and Alternatives
1 October 2025
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Capt. Howie Colt,
Founder/Sr Captain Gone Sailing Adventures, (www.gonesailingadventures.com)
Vice President Passenger & Commercial Vessel Association (pcvacanada.ca)
Operations Manager, Safety and Boating Alliance (saba.ngo)
hcolt@gosailto.com 416 529 4361
In May 2022, Megan Wu, 24, and Julio Abrantes, 34, lost their lives on an unlicensed charter boat that struck rocks and flooded. Megan drowned, trapped in the boat’s bathroom. The operator was acquitted of criminal negligence causing death.
Two years later, in the summer of 2024, another life was lost — Abiku Arim drowned after falling off Man O’ War, an allegedly illegal charter still operating today.
Then, on August 15, 2025, came the death of 27-year-old Azaan Moosa aboard the vessel Slow Motion.
Slow Motion had already been reported to Transport Canada, Ports Toronto, Toronto Police Marine Unit, and City of Toronto bylaw enforcement multiple times as an unlicensed, illegal charter. In fact, the final notice warning of its illegal operation was sent to all these agencies just hours before it picked up passengers from City-owned property.
Azaan should still be alive. He isn’t — because no one acted.
For over three years, illegal charter operators have flourished on Toronto’s waterfront under the watch of a half-dozen government agencies.
Each of the following bears responsibility for this ongoing public safety failure:
Since 2020, I have documented repeated cases of unlicensed boats loading and unloading passengers across the harbour — at Outer Harbour Marina, the Harbourfront docks, Sugar Beach, Anukshuk Park, Merchants Wharf, and beyond.
Ports Toronto, to their credit, removed over 30 illegal boats this spring — yet at least five were still operating from their docks by August.
At Harbourfront, vessels openly pick up passengers right in front of their offices, barely 100 feet from the Toronto Police Marine Unit.
Meanwhile, City-managed waterfront parks see a constant flow of illegal charters.
And Transport Canada? A full year after promising public safety signage to warn citizens about illegal operators, not a single sign has been posted. Inspections happen, yes — but the same boats and operators are back on the water the very next day.
Waterfront Toronto’s “Kiss and Sail” dock at Yonge Street is a particular flashpoint. Reckless behaviour is common; police and EMS have been called numerous times. In one incident, a drunk passenger fell eight feet to the dock after being dropped off by an unlicensed boat that sped away into the night.
The City of Toronto has finally taken steps to address the chaos caused by illegal jet-ski rentals — but the far deadlier issue of unlicensed charter boats has been met with silence.
Mayor Olivia Chow, Deputy Mayor Asma Malik, and Councillors Paula Fletcher, Amber Morley, and Parthi Kandavel — whose wards cover the bulk of the waterfront — have all declined meetings to discuss this escalating problem. The only advice offered: file a complaint with 311.
Toronto’s bylaw officers are trying, but they’re outnumbered and under-resourced. Illegal operators act with impunity, using public docks as their business hubs and social media as their storefronts. Sites like Facebook Marketplace and GetMyBoat.com host countless listings from unlicensed operators — no verification, no oversight, no accountability.
This is not a complex problem — it’s an enforcement problem.
Here’s how to fix it:
These measures require little investment — only willpower.
How many more lives will it take before our leaders find the courage to act?
Toronto’s waterfront should be a symbol of freedom, beauty, and safe recreation — not a place where young people die because of bureaucratic indifference.
Megan, Julio, Abiku, and Azaan deserved better.
Toronto deserves better.
And it’s time for our government agencies to finally do better.
When considering chartering a yacht in Canada, we know you have many options. Some of these options look super exciting and at ridiculously great prices. Recent trends in the industry have opened the door for many unqualified individuals to purchase boats and offer charter services to the unsuspecting public. It’s easy to create a website and even easier to just list a boat on sites such as Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, Getmyboat, Boat Setter and many others.
Unfortunately, many of these operators are NOT licensed, insured or qualified to accept your trust on the water.
In order to be licensed and insured a number of items MUST be in place. Listed are just a few.
Over the last few years there have been a number of deaths and even more accidents resulting from these types of operators. Be safe and know who you are getting on a boat with. All licensed operators should willingly display their credentials, and most are members of the Passenger & Commercial Vessel Association (PCVA).