The first Toronto Dry Dock Company was established in 1847 by William Botsford Jarvis (1799–1864) in the Province of Canada to build ships to ply the waters of the Great Lakes.
The company acquired the shipbuilding business of Patrick Dixon and son Harry J. Dixon) under the Ontario Companies Act to build larger ships, and during WW I Toronto Shipbuilding constructed two wood-hulled freighters in 1918, the War Ontario and War Toronto, side-launching both into Keating Channel.
The current Toronto Drydock, founded in 1989 is a small marine repair facility built from the former St-Lawrence pulpwood carrier Menier Consol (built in 1962 and converted as floating drydock after 1984) and located in the eastern Portland area in the Turning Basin along Basin Street and across from the former Hearn Generating Station.
Dominion then built a new facility on reclaimed land leased from the Toronto Harbour Commission and constructed twelve merchant ships during and immediately following the war (1917–1921) before ceasing operations.
A number of other small builders dotted the waterfront east and west of Toronto proper: The Rouge River's ship building was linked to the prolific lumber industry.