Trudeau 'Sorry' for Canada Turning Away Jewish Refugees in 1939.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has formally apologized for his country's refusal to provide shelter to a ship carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees almost 80 years ago.

In May 1939, German ocean liner MS St Louis left Hamburg with more than 900 Jews fleeing the horrors of Nazi persecution in search of a safe haven for themselves and their families.

When Cuba, the United States, and Canada turned the ship away, it returned to Europe where several countries took the refugees in and, according to historians and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), 255 of them were later killed in World War II, most of them in concentration camps.

"We apologize to the 907 German Jews on board St Louis as well as their families," Trudeau said in a parliamentary sitting on Wednesday.

"We are sorry for the callousness of Canada's response. We are sorry for not apologizing sooner.

"While decades have passed since we turned our backs on Jewish refugees, the time has by no means absolved Canada of its guilt or lessened the weight or our shame."

The apology came following the October 27 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, where 11 people were killed, including a Canadian woman.