You’ve probably heard that to operate a recreational boat in Canada, you need a Canadian pleasure craft licence. Well, let’s take a look at what that entails.
Canadian Pleasure Craft Licence
As stated by the Canadian Shipping Act of 2001, a pleasure craft license is a document with a unique identifying number for a vessel, specifically, those solely used for recreational purposes. This allows you to have a distinct number attached to your vessel to properly identify it in situations such as searches and rescues. Thanks to this, the relevant personnel will be able to find and access relevant information quickly and promptly. While similar to the registration process that is mandatory for commercial vessels, the application process for a Canadian pleasure craft license is simpler and easier to approach. If you head over to the corresponding form on our menu, it will only take you a few minutes to fill out the application form.
Do You Have to Get a Pleasure Craft Licence?
Not every recreational boat in the country needs to get a pleasure craft license with Transport Canada. If you have a simple sailboat, for example, you probably won’t have to bother with a license. So how do you know if you have to license your recreational boat? Well, per Transport Canada regulations, only pleasure boats that are powered by an engine of 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) or more need to be licensed. If your boat fits this description and it’s not used for any non-recreational purposes (such as operating for profit, research or passenger transportation), then you will want to get a Canadian pleasure craft license for it.
Licensing Your Recreational Boat
So, you have to get a pleasure craft license for your recreational boat. What comes next? Well, the process is fairly easy, especially when you have access to our documentation platform. Here at the National Vessel Registry Center, you will be able to find the application forms you need to submit to get your license granted by Transport Canada. All you’ll need to do is provide the bill of sale of the vessel, along with all the contact information relevant in terms of you, the owner, and file it all with the application. If you need help at any point, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team and we’ll make sure you take proper care of it.
Transport Canada Application Forms
Your boat ownership should be fun and exciting, which is why we don’t want you to have to worry too much about its more menial aspects, such as paperwork. Here at the National Vessel Registry Center, we can help you take care of all this quickly and efficiently so that you can focus on what matters most. Here, you will find every form, every application, and every guide related to your boating documentation, so go ahead and get started with whatever it is you have to do, be it your registration, your pleasure craft license, or your boat history transcript. Our platform will have everything you need and more.
