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General Pilotage Regulations (SOR/2000-132)

Regulations are current to 2024-10-14 and last amended on 2022-05-20. Previous Versions

PART 2Pilotage Authority Regions (continued)

DIVISION 1Atlantic Pilotage Authority Region (continued)

Examinations (continued)

 An applicant for a licence or pilotage certificate shall, not less than 14 days and not more than 60 days before the date of the examination, provide the Minister with

  • (a) documents establishing that the applicant is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident as set out in subsection 38.1(3) of the Act;

  • (b) the applicant’s birth certificate or other official document showing the applicant’s date and place of birth;

  • (c) documents establishing the applicant’s navigational qualifications;

  • (d) documents confirming, in the case of an applicant for a pilotage certificate, that they meet the experience at sea qualifications set out in sections 22.22 and 22.23;

  • (e) the medical report referred to in section 4; and

  • (f) a letter of recommendation that includes information about the applicant’s history of ship handling and navigation from

    • (i) the applicant’s most recent employer, if the applicant was employed by that employer for two years or more, or

    • (ii) each of the applicant’s two most recent employers, if the applicant was employed by the most recent employer for less than two years.

 The examinations conducted by the Board of Examiners may include questions in relation to the following:

  • (a) local knowledge of the pilotage area in which the applicant intends to perform pilotage duties or for which the holder’s licence or pilotage certificate was issued, including knowledge of tides, currents, depths of water, anchorages, aids to navigation and the marine traffic regulating system;

  • (b) practical knowledge of the interpretation of radar;

  • (c) knowledge of the harbour and other marine regulations that apply in the pilotage area in which the applicant intends to perform pilotage duties or for which the holder’s licence or pilotage certificate was issued, including, insofar as they apply in that pilotage area, knowledge of the Collision Regulations, the Act and the regulations made under it;

  • (d) knowledge of the handling of ships that are within the tonnage restriction for the class of licence or pilotage certificate held or applied for; and

  • (e) the duties, responsibilities and obligations of a pilot including the use of modern navigational instruments for pilotage purposes.

  •  (1) The Chairperson of the Board of Examiners shall report to the Minister the results of every examination, including

    • (a) the name of each person who passed the examination;

    • (b) the class of licence that each person who passed the examination is entitled to; and

    • (c) the class of pilotage certificate that each person who passed the examination will receive.

  • (2) The Atlantic Pilotage Authority shall, when requested by any person who fails an examination, provide that person with a report indicating the reason they failed.

Minimum Number of Licensed Pilots or Holders of Pilotage Certificates

 The minimum number of licensed pilots or holders of pilotage certificates that shall be on board ship at any time is one, except if the Atlantic Pilotage Authority determines that, due to the conditions or nature of the voyage, the ship requires more than one person to perform pilotage duties on the ship, in which case the minimum number is two.

Further Training

 If a licence or a pilotage certificate is suspended by the Minister pursuant to section 38.7 of the Act, the holder of the licence or pilotage certificate shall, if they wish to have the licence or certificate reinstated, take further training that will enable them to continue to meet the qualifications set out in paragraphs 22.21(1)(e) to (g) of these Regulations.

 If the pilotage certificate holder for a compulsory pilotage area is unable to meet the applicable qualification set out in section 22.25, they shall take further training to ensure that their knowledge of the pilotage area is equivalent to that of a holder of a pilotage certificate who meets that qualification.

Shipping Incident

  •  (1) In the case of a ship involved in an incident in a compulsory pilotage area, the holder of a licence or pilotage certificate who was performing pilotage duties on that ship shall immediately report to the Minister by the fastest means available all known details of the incident including any pollution or threat of pollution in the case where the ship

    • (a) causes the loss of or damage to any other vessel or property located in or adjacent to the waters in that area, whether or not loss or damage results to the ship; or

    • (b) is damaged, stranded, lost or abandoned or is in any manner involved in an incident that may directly or indirectly cause damage to or pollution of the surrounding environment.

  • (2) If the report referred to in subsection (1) is not in writing, the holder of the licence or pilotage certificate shall, within 72 hours after the time of that report, make a written report of the same matters to the Minister.

DIVISION 2Laurentian Pilotage Authority Region

Interpretation

 This Division sets out the provisions applicable to the Laurentian Pilotage Authority’s region that are in addition to the ones set out in Part 1.

  •  (1) The following definitions apply in this Division.

    berth

    berth means a wharf, pier, anchorage or mooring buoy, and includes a berthed ship or a ship at anchor. (poste)

    Board of Examiners

    Board of Examiners means the persons appointed under section 23.34 to conduct examinations for any class of licence or pilotage certificate. (jury d’examen)

    deadweight tonnage

    deadweight tonnage means the weight in metric tons of cargo, ship’s fuel, passengers and crew carried by a ship when loaded to its maximum Summer Load Line. (port en lourd)

    movage

    movage means the moving of a ship within a harbour, whether the ship is moved from one berth to another or is returned to the same berth, but unless a pilot is employed does not include the warping of a ship from one berth to another solely by means of mooring lines attached to a wharf, the shore or a mooring buoy. (déplacement)

  • (2) In this Division, the length of a ship refers to the distance in metres and centimetres between the fore and aft extremities of the ship.

  • (3) In this Division, a part of a district refers to either of the following, as the case may be:

    • (a) in the case of a licence, all navigable waters of a district lying between two pilot boarding stations; and

    • (b) in the case of a pilotage certificate, the navigable waters of a district lying between and in the vicinity of two berths, as indicated on the pilotage certificate.

Compulsory Pilotage Area

 The area described in Part 1 of Schedule 3 is established as a compulsory pilotage area within the Laurentian Pilotage Authority’s region and is divided into District Nos. 1, 1-1 and 2 as described in Part 2 of that schedule.

Ships Subject to Compulsory Pilotage

  •  (1) Subject to subsection (3), the following ships are subject to compulsory pilotage:

    • (a) any ship registered in Canada that

      • (i) is operated in District No. 1 or District No. 1-1 and is more than 70 m in length and more than 2,400 gross tonnage, or

      • (ii) is operated in District No. 2 and is more than 80 m in length and more than 3,300 gross tonnage; and

    • (b) any ship that is not registered in Canada and is more than 35 m in length.

  • (2) Every scow and barge that is registered in Canada and carrying as cargo a pollutant, as defined in section 165 of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, is subject to compulsory pilotage.

  • (3) The following ships or classes of ships, if registered in Canada, are not subject to compulsory pilotage:

    • (a) any ship owned by the Government of Canada and not engaged in commercial trade;

    • (b) any ferry operating in the passenger carrying trade on a regular schedule between two or more terminals;

    • (c) any ship designed for and engaged in fishing;

    • (d) any tug, floating crane or dredge; and

    • (e) any self-propelled barge trading regularly between two or more terminals in Quebec in or east of District No. 2 other than a barge described in subsection (2).

  • (4) Despite subsection (3), a ship referred to in any of paragraphs (3)(b) to (e) is subject to compulsory pilotage if its operation would likely constitute a risk to the safety of navigation because of

    • (a) the condition of the ship;

    • (b) exceptional conditions on board the ship; or

    • (c) conditions related to weather, tides, currents or ice.

 Despite paragraph 23.3(3)(d), a tug used in the towing or pushing of one or more barges or scows is subject to compulsory pilotage if the length and gross tonnage of any of the barges or scows is as set out in paragraph 23.3(1)(a) or if the length of any of the barges or scows is as set out in paragraph 23.3(1)(b), as the case may be.

 Despite paragraph 23.3(1)(a), every ship registered in Canada that, before September 24, 2002, was not subject to compulsory pilotage by reason of its length or net registered tonnage is not subject to compulsory pilotage under that paragraph.

Waiver of Compulsory Pilotage

  •  (1) The Laurentian Pilotage Authority may waive compulsory pilotage in respect of a ship

    • (a) that is to arrive in, depart from or make a movage within the compulsory pilotage area if her owner, master or agent has complied with section 23.7, 23.8, 23.9, 23.10 or 23.11, whichever applies, and no licensed pilot is available to perform pilotage duties at the time of her arrival, departure or movage, as the case may be; or

    • (b) in respect of which one or more licensed pilots refuse to perform pilotage duties, except where that Authority regards the ship as unsafe.

  • (2) Despite subsection (1), the Laurentian Pilotage Authority may waive compulsory pilotage of a ship that is in distress, proceeding to a ship in distress or entering the compulsory pilotage area for refuge.

Notices of Arrival

  •  (1) The owner, master or agent of a ship that is to arrive in the compulsory pilotage area at the pilot boarding station at Les Escoumins shall give,

    • (a) if the ship is arriving from any point east of the Strait of Belle Isle, Cabot Strait or the Strait of Canso,

      • (i) a first notice of the estimated time of arrival 24 hours before the estimated time of arrival,

      • (ii) a second notice of the estimated time of arrival 12 hours before the estimated time of arrival, and

      • (iii) a final notice confirming or correcting the estimated time of arrival six hours before the estimated time of arrival; and

    • (b) if the ship is arriving from any point west of the Strait of Belle Isle, Cabot Strait or the Strait of Canso,

      • (i) a first notice of the estimated time of arrival 12 hours before the estimated time of arrival, and

      • (ii) a final notice confirming or correcting the estimated time of arrival six hours before the estimated time of arrival.

  • (2) The notices referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) shall be given by calling a coastal marine radio station or pilot dispatch centre.

 The owner, master or agent of a ship that is to arrive in the compulsory pilotage area from any point above the entrance to St. Lambert Lock shall give notice of the immediate and ultimate destinations of the ship in the compulsory pilotage area by calling the St. Lawrence Seaway Radio Control when passing Iroquois Lock and Beauharnois Lock.

Notices of Departure

 The owner, master or agent of a ship that is to depart from a berth in the compulsory pilotage area for any purpose, other than making a movage, shall give, by calling a pilot dispatch centre,

  • (a) a first notice of the estimated time of departure 12 hours before its estimated time of departure; and

  • (b) a final notice confirming or correcting the estimated time of departure at least four hours before the estimated time.

Notices of Movage

  •  (1) The owner, master or agent of a ship that is to make a movage shall give,

    • (a) in any harbour within the compulsory pilotage area other than the Harbour of Montreal or the Harbour of Quebec,

      • (i) a first notice of the estimated time of movage 12 hours before the estimated time of movage, and

      • (ii) a final notice confirming or correcting the estimated time of movage four hours before the estimated time of movage; and

    • (b) in the Harbour of Montreal or the Harbour of Quebec, a notice of movage three hours before the time of movage.

  • (2) The notices referred to in subsection (1) shall be given by calling a pilot dispatch centre.

 

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