Toronto Island Ferry Costs $9.57 for Adults. Here's What Else You Pay

Two adults can ride to Toronto Island and back for $19.14. The City of Toronto charges $9.57 for an adult round trip, and one ticket covers the return from any island dock. For August 2026 the City's fare table showed the Older Adult, Youth, Junior and Infant round trips as Free, so a family with two children under 15 paid the same $19.14 as the adults alone. The City has not published a fare for those tiers after August 31, 2026. Everyone still needs a ticket, free or not. Beyond the fare, the beaches, boardwalk, lighthouse, petting farm and splash pads cost nothing. Rides, bikes, kayaks and the guided tour are priced separately by whoever runs them.

What the ferry costs

The City publishes five round-trip fare tiers, none of them a student tier. Adults aged 20 to 64 pay $9.57. Older Adult covers 65 and over, Youth 15 to 19, Junior two to 14, and Infant under two. All four show as Free on the City's ferry ticket page as of August 27, 2026, under an offer that runs August 1 to August 31, 2026.

That page does not state whether HST is inside the $9.57, and it names no booking or service fee, so treat it as the price as printed. The City has published no fare for those four tiers after August 31, 2026.

One ticket lets you land at Ward's Island and come home from Centre Island. Tickets bought in person must be used the same day. All are non-refundable, though online ones can be forwarded as a PDF.

Buying 10 or more round trips takes 10 per cent off, so 10 adult tickets at $9.57 come to $95.70, less $9.57, which is $86.13. An adult monthly pass is $121.64 and is sold only at the terminal. At the full single-ticket price it pays for itself on the thirteenth round trip, because 12 x $9.57 = $114.84 and 13 x $9.57 = $124.41. At the bulk rate it takes 15, because 10 discounted round trips are $86.13, so 14 come to 1.4 x $86.13 = $120.58 and 15 come to 1.5 x $86.13 = $129.20.

One terminal, three docks, three different days out

Every public ferry leaves from the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal at 9 Queens Quay W., set back 100 metres south of Queens Quay West and Bay Street, behind the Westin Harbour Castle. There is no parking at it. From mid-April to mid-October, three routes run from it.

Centre Island is the busiest dock. Centreville Amusement Park, the Far Enough Farm petting farm, the hedge maze, the pier and Centre Island Beach are all here.

Ward's Island is the quiet one, its beach a five-minute walk south of the dock. The boardwalk's main entry and exit points are on that beach's north side and just east of Centre Island Beach. Ward's also sits 2.9 km from Centre Island, about a 35-minute walk, and the City suggests it when Centre Island lines are long.

Hanlan's Point is the western end, its beach a 15-minute walk from the dock, part of it clothing-optional. In August 2026 the City posted that some access points to it were temporarily closed because of high water levels, and it asks visitors to stay off the grassy dunes.

The docks are far apart on foot: Centre Island to Hanlan's Point is 3.9 km and about 50 minutes, and Ward's Island to Hanlan's Point 5.4 km and about 70 minutes.

The schedule changes with the season

The summer timetable runs May 13 to September 15 and carries more trips than either of the City's other two schedules. We counted the City's listed departures from the city side: 72 every day, and 77 on peak operating days, which the City marks with a double asterisk and defines as weekends and holidays.

Ward's Island gets the first boat at 6:30 a.m., and Centre Island does not start until 8:00 a.m.

The 2026 fall schedule starts on September 16 and runs about a month on all three routes, with fewer trips than summer. The winter schedule starts in mid October and runs through mid-April on one route only, to Ward's Island. The City says exact fall and winter dates will be posted on that page once confirmed, and warns that any schedule can change for weather or mechanical reasons.

The City says peak travel is 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. going out and 5 to 9 p.m. coming back. Waits in those windows may exceed 30 to 60 minutes at the terminal or on the islands. Online ticket holders enter through an express line at peak times.

What is open on the islands, and what it costs

Centreville Amusement Park is the big paid attraction, run by William Beasley Enterprises rather than the City. There is no entrance fee. You pay only if you ride, and online ride tickets must be bought at least one day ahead. The City lists Centreville as available May through September and points visitors to the operator for days and hours. Centreville says the same, open May through September with varying opening and closing times, so check its site before a September trip.

Toronto Island Bicycle Rental sits on Centre Island, includes all taxes in its prices and charges a $1 fee on card payments. The City runs the paddling and the tour itself. The Boat House rents canoes and kayaks with paddles and lifejackets included, first available from 11 a.m., and takes only credit and debit. The guided golf-cart tour lasts 30 to 40 minutes and starts and ends at the foot of the bridge, near the fountain on Centre Island.

Only the bike rental says its prices include tax. Centreville prints most of its prices with tax on top, as do both City activities, and the ferry fare and Centreville's $1.80 single ride ticket say nothing either way.

The Boat House, guided tour and information hub all stop on September 7, more than a week before the summer ferry schedule ends.

What you get for nothing

Four of Toronto's 10 beaches are on the islands, and none charges admission: Centre Island Beach about 10 minutes' walk from its dock, Gibraltar Point Beach about 20 minutes from the Centre Island dock, Hanlan's Point Beach 15 minutes from Hanlan's dock and Ward's Island Beach five minutes from Ward's. The City says its beaches are lifeguard supervised and maintained in the summer, and that swimming without one is not recommended.

Far Enough Farm is a free petting farm. Both Centre Island splash pads are free, including the one inside Centreville, where the City states users need no entrance fee and no ride tickets. The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, over 200 years old and the oldest stone building in Toronto, is reachable year round. So are the 1.5-kilometre boardwalk, the Centre Island pier, the Franklin Children's Garden, the William Meany Maze and the disc golf courses.

Three public washrooms stay open year round: near the Ward's beach, in Centre Island, and at the Hanlan's Point ferry dock. Water is available inside them, but the outdoor filling stations shut off in winter. The Ward's Island waiting shed is heated, with limited seating.

The rules that catch people out

Only emergency and commercial service vehicles go to the island. Private cars do not.

Bring your own bike and it rides free. A Bike Share Toronto bike does not: those are barred from the boats, so dock one on the mainland and pick up another on the island. E-bikes board at staff discretion, and staff may send one over roughly 40 kilograms to the vehicle ferry. The City's Things To Do page also bars e-bikes over 40 kilograms from the park itself, so a heavy one may cross and still be turned back. Charging an e-bike on board, at the terminal or at a landing is not allowed. Electric scooters and motorcycles are refused outright.

Dogs ride the ferry, and must stay leashed in the waiting area and on board. Ashore, the City requires a leash in any park or beach. Its beach rule is that dogs are not allowed to enter swimming beach areas except between November 1 and March 31, with service animals and City working dogs excepted. That keeps dogs off all four island beaches for the whole swimming season. Letting a dog off-leash outside a designated area can draw a fine of up to $615, which the City breaks down as a $500 charge plus a $110 victim's surcharge and a $5 administration fee.

Open alcohol is on the City's list of items not allowed on the ferry. The Alcohol in Parks Program covers 55 City parks, its criteria exclude parks "situated on the waterfront", and no Toronto Island park appears in its published list. Municipal Code § 608-8 prohibits possessing open liquor in a Toronto park without a permit.

The terminal, every ferry, the terminal washrooms and the waiting shelters are accessible to passengers using wheelchairs or mobility-assisted devices. Centreville says there are no bank machines on Centre Island, and that island services take cash, debit and credit but not American Express. The City itself takes American Express at the ferry terminal.

What a day actually costs a family of four

Take two adults and two children under 15, riding at Centreville. The ferry is 2 x $9.57 = $19.14, because in August 2026 the children travelled free. A Centreville family pass covering all four is $146.90 plus tax, so the day comes to $19.14 + $146.90 = $166.04 before Centreville's tax. That is a floor: the City does not say whether tax is already inside the ferry fare, and Centreville states its own is not.

Swap the rides for a picnic and the same family pays $19.14 on August's fares, plus whatever food they carry over. Add two single bikes for the afternoon and it is $19.14 + $60 = $79.14, since bike rental is $30 a bike with taxes included.