Canada floats new fee for pleasure craft

OTTAWA, CANADA—Transport Canada, the country’s governmental department responsible for transportation policies and programs, has floated a plan to expand the number of pleasure craft that require a license, shorten the renewal period and introduce a user fee on those licenses.

Transport Canada signaled its intention to amend the small vessel regulations in a presentation prepared for a virtual meeting of the Canadian Marine Advisory Council in early November.

Right now, only pleasure craft with an engine over 9.9 horsepower need a license — and it’s free. Proposals introduce a user fee and make a license mandatory for any boat above six meters, regardless of engine size. The user fee is undefined.

Transport Canada intends to end lifetime non-renewable licenses and reduce the license-renewal period from 10 years to five. The proposed rule changes would provide the government with more information to identify the owners of recreational boats abandoned or wrecked in Canada’s lakes, rivers and oceans.

The amended regulations are expected to go to the treasury board in 2021. The federal cabinet committee oversees government financial management.