The Port of Halifax reports that more than 150 cruise ships of lines including Norwegian, Regent Seven Seas, Holland America, Princess, Royal Caribbean and others are scheduled to visit the Nova Scotia port between April and November 2022.

Before COVID-19 killed the cruise business in 2020, Halifax had been expecting to receive 208 ships carrying more than 350,000 tourists who would have generated nearly $80M in economic activity.

Since then, up until 1 November 2021, the Government of Canada had prohibited the operation of cruise ships in Canadian waters.

Regarding the return of cruise ships to Canada, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said at a media conference earlier this month that only fully vaccinated persons will be permitted to come ashore off a cruise ship in any Canadian port.

Although the number of ships scheduled for 2022 looks good, there's a lot of uncertainty as to passenger numbers. So far throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, in repeated surveys, travelers in both North America and Europe have rated cruising as the least-safe mode of leisure travel.

Will all the scheduled sailings to Canada draw enough passengers to avoid cancellation? Will cruise lines be able to stay in business? Will businesses in Canadian port cities be able to stay operating through another year with fewer tourists?

Stay tuned for updates.