New Vessel Safety Certificates Regulations

Summary#

These are the final Vessel Safety Certificates Regulations (SOR/2021-135). They replaced the old Vessel Certificates Regulations and came into force when published in the Canada Gazette, Part II on June 23, 2021. In practice, the rules clarify which vessels need safety certificates, update voyage categories and sheltered-waters lists, and move many technical inspection details into an administrative inspection standard.

What it does#

• Replaces the Vessel Certificates Regulations with the new Vessel Safety Certificates Regulations.
• Restores an inland voyage category and defines “inland waters of Canada.” This separates Great Lakes and big-lake trips from some coastal rules.
• Expands the sheltered-waters distance from 1 nautical mile to 2.5 nautical miles, and adds 87 named sheltered-water areas to the schedules.
• Moves technical inspection details out of many regulations and into the new Canadian Vessel Plan Approval and Inspection Standard (an administrative document). This lets inspection details be updated faster.
• Updates who must hold certificates:
  • Simplifies rules for non‑SOLAS vessels so certificates depend mainly on vessel size and passenger count (e.g., vessels over 15 gross tonnage, or ≤15 gt carrying more than 12 passengers).
  • Keeps SOLAS-related certificates for vessels governed by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).
• Requires an up‑to‑date Continuous Synopsis Record for Canadian SOLAS vessels and clarifies record-keeping on board.
• Re-establishes reporting duties for vessel owners/authorized representatives: report fixed inspection deficiencies and any vessel modifications, alterations or damage that might affect a certificate.
• Makes numerous consequential amendments and repeals across other marine regulations (for example, repeals of the Hull Inspection Regulations and the Classed Ships Inspection Regulations, 1988).
• Keeps administrative monetary penalty ranges currently up to $25,000, while noting planned future changes to align with a higher maximum of $250,000 per infraction.

Who's affected#

• Vessel owners and operators, including small commercial operators (the rules apply to an estimated 4,500 vessels).
• Authorized representatives and masters who must keep certificates and records on board, and who must file notification reports.
• Foreign vessels operating in Canadian waters that are SOLAS or non‑SOLAS.
• Marine inspectors and surveyors, and Transport Canada, which will use the new administrative inspection standard.
• The Marine Technical Review Board, which will see fewer equivalency applications (an estimated 93 applications avoided over 10 years).
• Offshore oil and gas operators were consulted; the regulations keep these vessels subject to the VSCR when on location (no exemption was retained).

Why it matters#

• Clearer rules make it easier for operators to know what certificates and equipment they need. That reduces confusion at ports and during inspections.
• Moving inspection details to an administrative standard means technical rules (for example, how inspections are done) can be updated more quickly to reflect modern practice.
• Some businesses will save time and money: the regulatory analysis estimates total benefits of $0.5 million, costs of $0.14 million, and a net present benefit of $0.37 million over 10 years. Part of that comes from avoiding an estimated 93 Marine Technical Review Board applications.
• There is a small extra paperwork burden: the rules estimate an extra 744 required notifications per year, at about $9.75 per notification. The annualized net administrative cost is estimated at $7,080 (about $1.57 per affected business).
• Updating voyage categories (adding “inland voyage” and expanding sheltered waters) can let some vessels operate in more areas without needing higher-level certificates. That can lower operating costs for regional and lake operators.
• The reintroduced reporting duties help Transport Canada catch safety problems sooner. That can improve safety for crews, passengers and the environment.