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Canada Shipping Act, 2001 (S.C. 2001, c. 26)

Assented to 2001-11-01

Ministerial Responsibility

Marginal note:Role of Minister of Transport

 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the Minister of Transport is responsible for the administration of this Act.

Powers of Ministers

Marginal note:General
  •  (1) The Minister of Transport or the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans may, with respect to that Minister’s responsibilities under this Act,

    • (a) establish consultative bodies;

    • (b) issue bulletins, guidelines and standards; and

    • (c) enter into agreements or arrangements respecting the administration or enforcement of any provision of this Act or the regulations and authorize any person or organization with whom an agreement or arrangement is entered into to exercise the powers or perform the duties under this Act that are specified in the agreement or arrangement.

  • Marginal note:Exemption power of Ministers

    (2) The Minister of Transport or the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans may, with respect to that Minister’s responsibilities under this Act, exempt for a specified period any authorized representative, master, vessel, class of vessels, operator of an oil handling facility, oil handling facility or class of oil handling facility from the application of any provision of this Act or the regulations, subject to any conditions that that Minister considers appropriate, if that Minister is of the opinion that the exemption is in the interest of preventing damage to property or the environment or is in the interest of public health or safety.

  • Marginal note:Exemption

    (3) Subject to any conditions that the Minister of Transport considers appropriate, the Minister may exempt for a specified period any vessel, or class of vessels, that is en route through Canadian waters but is not en route to or departing from a port in Canada, from the application of any provision of Part 3 (Personnel), 4 (Safety) or 9 (Pollution Prevention — Department of Transport) if the Minister is of the opinion that the provision is substantially similar to a provision of the laws of another state to which the vessel or class of vessels is subject.

  • Marginal note:Publication

    (4) Notice of every exemption granted under subsection (2) or (3) must be published in the Canada Gazette.

  • Marginal note:Authorization

    (5) The Minister of Transport or the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans may authorize any person employed in the public service of Canada or any police officer, police constable, constable or other person employed for the preservation and maintenance of the public peace, or any class of any of those persons, that that Minister considers proper to exercise any of the powers and perform any of the duties and functions that may be or are required to be exercised or performed by that Minister under this Act.

Inspections by Marine Safety Inspectors and Others

Marginal note:Appointment of marine safety inspectors
  •  (1) Marine safety inspectors are appointed or deployed under the Public Service Employment Act.

  • Marginal note:Authorizations

    (2) The Minister of Transport may authorize a marine safety inspector to exercise any power or perform any duty or function of the Minister under this Act, including quasi-judicial powers and the administration of examinations referred to in subsection 16(2), or to carry out inspections under section 211, including the following:

    • (a) inspections of hulls;

    • (b) inspections of machinery;

    • (c) inspections of equipment;

    • (d) inspections respecting the protection of the marine environment for the purpose of Part 9 (Pollution Prevention — Department of Transport); and

    • (e) inspections of cargo.

  • Marginal note:Certificate

    (3) The Minister of Transport must furnish every marine safety inspector with a certificate of designation authorizing the inspector to carry out inspections under section 211 or to exercise any power or perform any duty or function of the Minister under this Act, including any quasi-judicial powers.

  • Marginal note:Duties and powers

    (4) A marine safety inspector may exercise only those powers and perform only those duties and functions that are referred to in the inspector’s certificate of designation.

  • Marginal note:Immunity

    (5) Marine safety inspectors are not personally liable for anything they do or omit to do in good faith under this Act.

Marginal note:Authorizing others to inspect
  •  (1) The Minister of Transport may authorize any person, classification society or other organization to issue any Canadian maritime document under this Act or to carry out inspections under section 211 if the Minister determines that the person, classification society or other organization is qualified to issue the document or carry out the inspection.

  • Marginal note:Certificate of authorization

    (2) The Minister of Transport must furnish the person, classification society or other organization with a certificate of authorization specifying the documents they are authorized to issue, the inspections they are authorized to carry out and any limitations on the powers they may exercise under subsection 211(4).

  • Marginal note:Inspection records

    (3) A person, classification society or other organization authorized to carry out inspections must keep a record of each inspection in the form and manner specified by the Minister of Transport and, on request, provide the record to the Minister.

  • Marginal note:Delivery of report

    (4) A person, classification society or other organization that does not, in respect of anything that they were authorized to inspect, issue a certificate because the requirements of the regulations have not been met must deliver their report in respect of that inspection to a marine safety inspector.

  • Marginal note:Immunity

    (5) The person, classification society or other organization is not personally liable for anything they do or omit to do in good faith under this Act.

Marginal note:Audit

 The Minister of Transport may authorize any person or class of persons to audit inspections carried out under section 211. The auditor may exercise the powers under that section of the person, classification society or other organization whose inspections are being audited.

Authorized Representative

Marginal note:Authorized representative
  •  (1) Every Canadian vessel must have a person — the authorized representative — who is responsible under this Act for acting with respect to all matters relating to the vessel that are not otherwise assigned by this Act to any other person.

  • Marginal note:Authorized representative

    (2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the authorized representative of a Canadian vessel is the owner of the vessel or, in the case of a vessel described in section 48 (a bare-boat chartered vessel), the bare-boat charterer.

  • Marginal note:Representative if more than one owner

    (3) In the case of a Canadian vessel that is owned by more than one person, the owners must appoint one of themselves as the authorized representative.

  • Marginal note:Representative of foreign corporation

    (4) In the case of a Canadian vessel that is owned by a corporation incorporated under the laws of a state other than Canada, the authorized representative must be

    • (a) a subsidiary of the corporation incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province;

    • (b) an employee or a director in Canada of a branch office of the corporation that is carrying on business in Canada; or

    • (c) a ship management company incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province.

  • Marginal note:Acts or omissions of authorized representative binding

    (5) The owner of a Canadian vessel is bound by the acts or omissions of their authorized representative with respect to the matters referred to in subsection (1).

Adjudicators

Marginal note:Appointment
  •  (1) The Minister of Transport may appoint persons to conduct independent reviews under subsection 16(6) (notice of refusal to issue or renew), 20(5) (suspension, cancellation or non-renewal of Canadian maritime documents), 231(3) (notices of default), 232(2) (notices of violation) or 239(3) (removal of notations of violations).

  • Marginal note:Powers of adjudicators

    (2) For the purposes of this Act, each adjudicator has and may exercise the powers of a person appointed as a commissioner under Part I of the Inquiries Act.

Canadian Maritime Documents

Marginal note:Application
  •  (1) An application for a Canadian maritime document must be made in the form and manner, include the information and be accompanied by the documents specified by the Minister of Transport.

  • Marginal note:Further evidence

    (2) In addition to the specified information or documents, the Minister of Transport may

    • (a) require that an applicant provide evidence, including declarations, that the Minister considers necessary to establish that the requirements for the issuance of the document have been met;

    • (b) if the Canadian maritime document is in respect of a person,

      • (i) set an examination that the person must undergo, and

      • (ii) administer the examination; and

    • (c) if the document is in respect of a vessel, require that the vessel or its machinery or equipment undergo any inspections that the Minister considers necessary to establish that the requirements for the issuance of the document have been met.

  • Marginal note:Cheating

    (3) No person shall cheat on an examination referred to in paragraph (2)(b).

  • Marginal note:Refusal to issue

    (4) The Minister of Transport may refuse to issue a Canadian maritime document if

    • (a) the applicant has not met the requirements for the issuance of the document;

    • (b) the applicant has acted fraudulently or improperly or has misrepresented a material fact;

    • (c) the Minister is of the opinion that the public interest and, in particular, the record of the applicant or of a principal of the applicant warrant it;

    • (d) the applicant has not paid a fee set under paragraph 35(1)(g) in respect of the issuance of the document or has not paid a fine or penalty imposed on them under this Act; or

    • (e) in the case of a Canadian maritime document applied for under Part 3 (Personnel) by a master or crew member,

      • (i) the master or crew member was on board a vessel that contravened any of sections 5.3 to 5.5 of the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act and knew, when the contravention occurred, that the vessel was committing the contravention, or

      • (ii) the master or crew member has been found guilty of an offence related to their duties on a vessel or has committed a violation in respect of which a notice of violation was issued under paragraph 229(1)(b).

  • Marginal note:Notice after refusal to issue

    (5) The Minister of Transport must, immediately after refusing to issue a Canadian maritime document, give the applicant a notice confirming the refusal and providing all relevant information concerning the grounds on which the Minister has refused to issue it.

  • Marginal note:Review of decision

    (6) A master or crew member whose application for a Canadian maritime document under Part 3 (Personnel) has been refused on a ground set out in any of paragraphs (4)(a), (b), (c) and (e) may, within 30 days after the day on which notice is given to them of the refusal, request that an adjudicator review the refusal.

 

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