What is Canadian Vessel Registration?

What exactly does it mean to have a Canadian vessel registered in the Canadian Register of Vessels?

Generally, all Canadian pleasure craft with a motor of 10 horsepower or more must be either licensed or registered. While you can read more about licensing of pleasure craft here, this article deals with vessel registration.

There are circumstances in which a vessel must be registered in the Canadian Register of Vessels. The following vessels must be registered:

Vessels with a marine mortgage;
When the owner wishes to have a reserved name for the vessel;
When the vessel will travel outside of Canada;

Different requirements apply to certain barges, government and commercial vessels which also must be registered, but our focus is on pleasure craft.

The Canadian Register of Vessels is a title system for vessel ownership operated by Transport Canada. A registered vessel will be entered into the Canadian Register of Vessels with the name of the owner, bareboat charterer (if applicable) and other details for the vessel.

In the event the purchase of a vessel is financed by a marine mortgage, the vessel will generally have to registered so that the mortgage could be registered on title. Most lenders will require the vessel to be properly registered in order to lend money for the purchase.

Only registered vessels can have a reserved name which would not be available to other boats registered in Canada. You can read more about choosing a name for your registered vessel here. An owner is able to reserve a special name for a vessel while Transport Canada is working on the registration process. If the desired name is available, Transport Canada will reserve it for 12 months.

Once a vessel is registered in the Canadian Register of Vessels, it must be kept updated by the owner. This means keeping the owner's address updated, reporting any changes to the vessel's name as well as the port of registration.

Written by: Vessel Registration Canada Staff

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