You’ve got a boat. You take your boat around Nova Scotia. Maybe you just use it for fun, taking your family and friends out on the water and enjoying the warm spring sun. Perhaps it’s a commercial vessel, and you use it for your livelihood or just to make a few extra bucks on the side. You may think: “OK, I’m doing all of this and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. Why would I want to get boat registration in Nova Scotia?” Well, there are quite a few reasons and factors as to how this registration could be a good idea for you.
Boat Registration History
Vessel registration in Canada isn’t exactly new. It’s been around for quite some time. If you have a pleasure craft, you can choose to get your vessel registered, but you don’t have to. In fact, you could instead decide to get a licence for it. However, if you have a commercial vessel, then you have to get it registered (unless it meets a few very specific criteria). However, there are actually two different kinds of registration: registration with the Canadian Register of Vessels or registration with the Small Vessel Register.
Boat Registration in Nova Scotia : Pleasure Craft vs. Commercial Craft
As with most things, determining whether your vessel is a pleasure craft or a non-pleasure vessel comes down to money. In this case, a good shorthand question to ask: “is someone paying money to be on the vessel?” If no, then it’s a pleasure craft. As mentioned above, when you go out with your family and friends, when you go for a ride around the lake, those are recreational trips. No one’s paying to do that. If that’s all you use your vessel for, then it’s probably a pleasure craft.
However, if people are paying you money to be on your vessel, then it might not be a pleasure craft. If people are on your vessel working a job, if they’re providing a service, then you probably have a non-pleasure craft. Are you fishing on the vessel for money, or is a company paying you to use your vessel for transportation? If the answer to these questions is “yes,” then you have a non-pleasure craft that should probably be registered. One other caveat: if your vessel is a governmental vessel, then it absolutely has to be registered. We understand that looking over this might be a bit confusing. That’s totally understandable, and if you have any further questions about whether or not your vessel is a pleasure craft or a commercial one, contact us and we’ll figure it out with you.
Specifics of Registration
If your commercial vessel requires a marine mortgage or if you’re planning on traveling outside of Canada for an extended period of time, then you need to get it registered under the Canadian Register of Vessels. “Extended period of time” is, of course, not a specific number. So, again, if you have any questions, feel free to send us an email. You will also need to get this registration for your vessel if it is more than “15 gross tonnes.” You’ll notice we did not say “15 gross tonnes in weight.” That’s because “tonnes,” as a measurement, is not specific to weight itself. It references the overall volume of the vessel itself, measuring the vessel’s internal volume.
Small Vessel Registration
These are commercial vessels that are less than 15 gross tonnes but still have to be registered. While these vessels are less than (or even equal to) the 15 gross tonnes, these vessels do have engines that are at least 10 horsepower. To be clear, this covers commercial as well as government vessels. They aren’t the only vessels that require this “small vessel registration,” because you will also have to get this registration if you have commercial river rafts as well.
To be clear, there are circumstances where you won’t have to get this registration. Those are circumstances where you don’t need or want an “official” name for your vessel. Should you decide to forgo a mortgage, or if you plan on never leaving Canada with your vessel, then you don’t need this kind of registration with your vessel. However, should you change your mind; you can get this registration later on.
Of course, no matter what kind of registration you want for your vessel, you can get it at our site. There, you’ll find all of the different kinds of registration that you may want to get for your vessels. From small vessel registration to regular registration to a pleasure craft license and everything in between, you can find them at our site. Moreover, you’ll be able to fill out the forms easily, and then in the just a few button presses, they’ll be sent on to the relevant authorities. For more info, give us a call at (800) 419-9569.