Toronto-Niagara hovercraft looks like it's finally happening

After years of chatter about a potential hovercraft route between Toronto and Niagara, material steps are finally being taken to get the unconventional (and fun!) means of transportation into action.

Hoverlink Ontario, which has been exploring the concept for more than a decade, has just signed a new, 30-year agreement permitting it to set up its dock along Toronto's waterfront — a turning point in the project's development that has been a long time coming.

"This milestone clears a major hurdle for launching North America's first large-scale hovercraft transit route," the firm wrote in a release announcing the news on Thursday morning, adding that its landing hub on the Niagara side is already "shovel-ready."

The Toronto slip will be fittingly located along Billy Bishop Airport's south dock wall, where residents will eventually be able to hop on a hovercraft and step off in the Niagara area — famous for its wineries, casinos and other attractions, including, of course, the Falls themselves — just 30 minutes later.

This makes the hoverlink far faster than driving or taking other existing transportation options between the two locales, along with being eco-conscious.

A rendering shows what Hoverlink Ontario expects its Toronto facility to look like.

The company, which has a mandate of "making transit more seamless, accessible, fun and environmentally friendly, while boosting the Golden Horseshoe's tourism, economy and overall quality of life," says that each covered vessel will be able to hold a whopping 180 people, and can operate year-round.

But, as quick as the trip may be if and when it is finally offered, there is still much to do before it becomes a potential reality, including additional planning and craft manufacturing — which will take at least two years, COO and interim president Erika Potrz told us, though the brand was originally hoping to launch service in 2023 (then 2025, then 2026).

On the Niagara side, Hoverlink Ontario is slated to operate out of a site in Port Weller, where it secured a 50-year lease with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. in the fall.