Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Canada Shipping Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 In this Act,

Admiralty Court

Cour d’Amirauté

Admiralty Court means the Federal Court; (Cour d’Amirauté)

agreement with the crew

contrat d’engagement de l’équipage

agreement with the crew has the meaning as indicated in section 163; (contrat d’engagement de l’équipage)

air cushion vehicle

aéroglisseur

air cushion vehicle means a machine designed to derive support in the atmosphere primarily from reactions against the earth’s surface of air expelled from the machine; (aéroglisseur)

authorized representative

représentant autorisé

authorized representative means, except in paragraph 712(7)(a), an authorized representative referred to in section 9; (représentant autorisé)

bare-boat charter

affrètement coque nue

bare-boat charter means a ship charter agreement under which the charterer has complete possession and control of the ship, including the right to appoint its master and crew; (affrètement coque nue)

Board

Bureau

Board means the Board of Steamship Inspection established by section 304; (Bureau)

Board of Trade or Chamber of Commerce

Board of Trade ou chambre de commerce

Board of Trade or Chamber of Commerce means the board of trade or chamber of commerce for any city, town or place in Canada that is nearest to any harbour or anchorage of ships; (Board of Trade ou chambre de commerce)

British ship

British ship[Repealed, 1998, c. 16, s. 1]

builder’s mortgage

builder’s mortgage[Repealed, 1998, c. 16, s. 1]

Canadian ship

navire canadien

Canadian ship means a ship registered or listed under Part I; (navire canadien)

Canadian waters

eaux canadiennes

Canadian waters means the territorial sea of Canada and all internal waters of Canada; (eaux canadiennes)

cargo ship

navire de charge

cargo ship means a ship that is not a fishing vessel, a passenger ship or a pleasure craft; (navire de charge)

Chairman

président

Chairman means the Chairman of the Board; (président)

chief officer of customs

préposé en chef des douanes

chief officer of customs means the chief or only officer of customs at any port; (préposé en chef des douanes)

claim, the amount of

montant de la réclamation

claim, the amount of, in respect of jurisdiction in matters of salvage, means the amount claimed in the proceeding or suit before the receiver of wrecks, or in the court in which the suit or proceeding is taken; (montant de la réclamation)

coast of Canada

littoral du Canada

coast of Canada means the sea-coast of Canada and the salt water bays, gulfs and harbours on the sea-coast of Canada; (littoral du Canada)

coasting trade of Canada

coasting trade of Canada[Repealed, 1992, c. 31, s. 23]

Collision Regulations

règlements sur les abordages

Collision Regulations means the regulations made under section 562.11; (règlements sur les abordages)

Commonwealth country

pays du Commonwealth

Commonwealth country means a country

• (a) whose government was a party to the British Commonwealth Merchant Shipping Agreement signed at London on December 10, 1931, or

• (b) that was included within the ambit of that Agreement in 1931 and the government of which, as a government of a separate entity within the association of the Commonwealth of Nations, continues to participate in that Agreement,

and includes the colonies, possessions, dependencies, protectorates, protected states, condominiums and trust territories of any such country; (pays du Commonwealth)

conditions of assignment

conditions d’assignation

conditions of assignment means those provisions of the Load Line Rules made by the Governor in Council that give effect to Part II of Annex I to the Load Line Convention; (conditions d’assignation)

consular officer

fonctionnaire consulaire

consular officer means a consular officer of Canada or any person for the time being discharging the duties of a consular officer of Canada, and, in the absence of a consular officer of Canada or such other person, means a consul-general, consul or vice-consul of the United Kingdom or any person for the time being discharging the duties of consul-general, consul or vice-consul of the United Kingdom, and, when used in relation to a country other than Canada, means the officer recognized by Her Majesty as a consular officer of that country; (fonctionnaire consulaire)

contravention

contravention

contravention includes failure to comply and the expression “contravenes” shall be construed accordingly; (contravention)

country to which the Load Line Convention applies

pays auquel s’applique la Convention sur les lignes de charge

country to which the Load Line Convention applies means

• (a) a country the government of which has been declared by the Governor in Council under section 352 to have ratified, or acceded to, the Load Line Convention, and has not been so declared to have denounced that Convention, and

• (b) a country to which it has been so declared that the Load Line Convention has been applied under Article 21 thereof, not being a country to which it has been so declared that the Convention has ceased to apply under that Article; (pays auquel s’applique la Convention sur les lignes de charge)

country to which the Safety Convention applies

pays auquel s’applique la Convention de sécurité

country to which the Safety Convention applies means a country the government of which has been declared under section 315 to have ratified or acceded to the Safety Convention and has not been so declared to have denounced that Convention; (pays auquel s’applique la Convention de sécurité)

dangerous goods or goods of a dangerous nature

marchandises dangereuses ou marchandises de nature dangereuse

dangerous goods or goods of a dangerous nature means goods that by reason of their nature, quantity or mode of stowage are either singly or collectively liable to endanger the lives of the passengers or imperil the ship, and includes all substances determined by the Governor in Council, in regulations made by him, to be dangerous goods; (marchandises dangereuses ou marchandises de nature dangereuse)

deck line

livet de pont

deck line means the line indicating the uppermost complete deck of a ship as defined by the Load Line Rules; (livet de pont)

Department

ministère

Department means, except in Part VII, the Department of Transport; (ministère)

equipment

équipement

equipment includes life-boats, life-saving equipment, apparatus for protection against fire and for detection and extinguishing of fire, fire-control plans, line-throwing apparatus, anchors, cables, pilot ladders, means of making sound signals and distress signals, compasses, lights, signals, navigating appliances and all other apparatus or equipment designed or required for the safety of the ship or the protection of the passengers and crew, but does not include radio equipment other than radio equipment for survival craft; (équipement)

fishing vessel

bâtiment de pêche ou bateau de pêche

fishing vessel, except in section 712, means a ship that is employed in catching fish, whales, seals, walrus or other living resources of the sea, and that does not carry passengers or cargo; (bâtiment de pêche ou bateau de pêche)

foreign ship

navire étranger

foreign ship means

• (a) except in paragraphs 662(1)(c) and (d), a ship other than a British ship, or

• (b) in paragraphs 662(1)(c) and (d), a ship other than a Canadian ship; (navire étranger)

foreign voyage

voyage de long cours

foreign voyage means a voyage extending beyond the area of a home-trade voyage and not being an inland or minor waters voyage; (voyage de long cours)

foreign-going

au long cours

foreign-going, when used with reference to a ship, means employed on foreign voyages; (au long cours)

goods

marchandises

goods includes every description of wares and merchandise; (marchandises)

government ship

navire d’État

government ship means a ship or vessel that is owned by and is in the service of Her Majesty in right of Canada or of any province or is, while so employed, wholly employed in the service of Her Majesty in that right; (navire d’État)

grain

grain

grain includes wheat, maize (corn), oats, rye, barley, rice, pulses, seeds and any processed forms of seeds the behaviour of which is similar to that of grain in its natural state; (grain)

grain cargo

cargaison de grains

grain cargo means a cargo of which the portion consisting of grain is more than one-quarter of the dead weight carrying capacity of the ship carrying it; (cargaison de grains)

Great Lakes

Grands Lacs

Great Lakes means Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron (including Georgian Bay), Michigan and Superior, and their connecting waters; (Grands Lacs)

gross tonnage

jauge brute

gross tonnage means the overall size of a ship as determined by a tonnage measurer; (jauge brute)

harbour

havre

harbour means harbours and places properly so called whether proclaimed public harbours or not, and whether natural or artificial, to which ships may resort for shelter or to ship or unship goods or passengers; (havre)

home-trade ships

navire de cabotage

home-trade ships means ships engaged in home-trade voyages; (navire de cabotage)

home-trade voyage

voyage de cabotage

home-trade voyage means a voyage, not being an inland or minor waters voyage, between places within the area following, namely, Canada, the United States other than Hawaii, St. Pierre and Miquelon, the West Indies, Mexico, Central America and the northeast coast of South America, in the course of which a ship does not go south of the sixth parallel of north latitude; (voyage de cabotage)

hull

coque

hull means the body of a vessel including the masts and rigging and all parts of its structure; (coque)

inland voyage

voyage en eaux internes

inland voyage means a voyage, not being a minor waters voyage, on the inland waters of Canada together with such part of any lake or river forming part of the inland waters of Canada as lies within the United States or on Lake Michigan; (voyage en eaux internes)

inland waters of Canada

eaux internes du Canada

inland waters of Canada means all the rivers, lakes and other navigable fresh waters within Canada, and includes the St. Lawrence River as far seaward as a straight line drawn

• (a) from Cap des Rosiers to West Point Anticosti Island, and

• (b) from Anticosti Island to the north shore of the St. Lawrence River along the meridian of longitude sixty-three degrees west; (eaux internes du Canada)

inland waters ship

navire d’eaux internes

inland waters ship means a ship employed on an inland voyage; (navire d’eaux internes)

international voyage

voyage international

international voyage

• (a) when used with reference to Load Line Convention ships, means a voyage, not being an inland voyage, from a port in one country to a port in another country, either of those countries being a country to which the Load Line Convention applies, and

• (b) when used with reference to Safety Convention ships, means a voyage, not being an inland voyage, from a port in one country to a port in another country, either of those countries being a country to which the Safety Convention applies,

and, for the purposes of this definition, every territory for the international relations of which a country to which the appropriate Convention applies is responsible or for which the United Nations is the administering authority shall be deemed to be a separate country; (voyage international)

licensed pilot

pilote breveté

licensed pilot means a person who holds a valid licence as pilot issued by a Pilotage Authority under the Pilotage Act; (pilote breveté)

Load Line Convention

Convention sur les lignes de charge

Load Line Convention means the International Convention respecting Load Lines together with the Final Protocol signed at London on July 5, 1930; (Convention sur les lignes de charge)

Load Line Convention Certificate

certificat selon la Convention sur les lignes de charge

Load Line Convention Certificate means a certificate indicating that a ship has been surveyed and marked with load lines in accordance with Part V and complies with the conditions of assignment to the extent required in its case; (certificat selon la Convention sur les lignes de charge)

Load Line Convention ship

navire ressortissant à la Convention sur les lignes de charge

Load Line Convention ship means a Load Line ship belonging to a country to which the Load Line Convention applies; (navire ressortissant à la Convention sur les lignes de charge)

Load Line Regulations

règlements sur les lignes de charge

Load Line Regulations means the regulations made pursuant to paragraph 375(2)(a); (règlements sur les lignes de charge)

Load Line Rules

règles sur les lignes de charge

Load Line Rules means the rules made by the Governor in Council for the purpose of giving effect to Articles 6 to 10 of the Load Line Convention and Annex I and Annex II thereto; (règles sur les lignes de charge)

Load Line ship

navire de franc-bord

Load Line ship means a ship of the kind described in section 353 that is not exempt under subsections (2) and (3) of that section from the provisions of Part V relating to load lines; (navire de franc-bord)

load lines

lignes de charge

load lines means the marks indicating the several maximum depths to which a ship can be safely loaded in the various circumstances prescribed by the Load Line Rules or Load Line Regulations applicable to that ship; (lignes de charge)

machinery

machines

machinery includes propulsion systems, steering systems, pressurized containers and systems, pumping systems, electrical systems, windlasses, and all similar apparatus required for, or affecting, the safety or operation of a ship or the safety of the personnel on board a ship; (machines)

master

capitaine

master includes every person having command or charge of any ship, but does not include a pilot; (capitaine)

Merchant Shipping Acts

Merchant Shipping Acts

"Merchant Shipping Acts" means the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, 57-58 Victoria, chapter 60, and all Acts adding to or amending that Act; (Merchant Shipping Acts)

Minister

ministre

Minister means, except in Part VII, the Minister of Transport; (ministre)

minor waters of Canada

eaux secondaires du Canada

minor waters of Canada means all inland waters of Canada other than Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, including Georgian Bay, and Superior and the St. Lawrence River east of a line drawn from Father Point to Point Orient, and includes all bays, inlets and harbours of or on those lakes and Georgian Bay and such sheltered waters on the sea-coasts of Canada as the Minister may specify; (eaux secondaires du Canada)

minor waters ship

navire d’eaux secondaires

minor waters ship means a ship employed on a minor waters voyage; (navire d’eaux secondaires)

minor waters voyage

voyage en eaux secondaires

minor waters voyage means a voyage within the following limits, namely, the minor waters of Canada together with such part of any lake or river forming part of the minor waters of Canada as lies within the United States; (voyage en eaux secondaires)

net tonnage

jauge nette

net tonnage means the useful capacity of a ship as determined by a tonnage measurer; (jauge nette)

night or night-time

nuit ou heures de nuit

night or night-time includes all that portion of the day extending from one-half hour after sunset until one-half hour before sunrise; (nuit ou heures de nuit)

nominal horsepower

puissance nominale en chevaux ou chevaux-vapeur nominaux

nominal horsepower means the measure of the size of marine engines, ascertained in accordance with regulations made by the Governor in Council; (puissance nominale en chevaux ou chevaux-vapeur nominaux)

nuclear ship

navire nucléaire

nuclear ship means a ship fitted with a nuclear power plant; (navire nucléaire)

ordinary practice of seamen

pratique ordinaire des marins

ordinary practice of seamen, as applied to any case, means the ordinary practice of skilful and careful persons engaged in navigation in like cases; (pratique ordinaire des marins)

owner

propriétaire

owner, except in Parts XV and XVI,

• (a) means

  • (i) as applied to unregistered ships, the actual owner and as applied to registered ships, the registered owner only, and

  • (ii) when used in relation to goods, every person who is for the time being entitled either as owner or agent for the owner to the possession of the goods, subject in the case of a lien to that lien, and

• (b) includes for the purposes of Part IX the lessee or charterer of any vessel who is responsible for the navigation thereof and includes for the purposes specified in section 75 beneficial owner; (propriétaire)

passenger

passager

passenger means a person carried on a ship by the owner or operator, other than

• (a) a person carried on a Safety Convention ship who is

  • (i) the master, a member of the crew or a person employed or engaged in any capacity on board the ship on the business of that ship, or

  • (ii) under one year of age,

• (b) a person carried on a ship that is not a Safety Convention ship who is

  • (i) the master, a member of the crew or a person employed or engaged in any capacity on board the ship on the business of that ship, or

  • (ii) a guest on board the ship, if the ship is used exclusively for pleasure and the guest is carried on it without remuneration or any object of profit,

• (c) a person carried on a ship in pursuance of the obligation on the master to carry shipwrecked, distressed or other persons or by reason of any circumstances that neither the master nor the owner could have prevented, or

• (d) special purpose personnel; (passager)

passenger ship

navire à passagers

passenger ship means a ship carrying passengers; (navire à passagers)

pilot

pilote

pilot means any person not belonging to a ship who has the conduct thereof; (pilote)

pleasure craft

embarcation de plaisance

pleasure craft means a vessel used by an individual for pleasure and not for a commercial purpose; (embarcation de plaisance)

pleasure yacht

pleasure yacht[Repealed, 1998, c. 16, s. 1]

port

port

port includes harbour but does not include the port of Montreal as defined in The Montreal Harbour Commissioners’ Act, 1894 (57-58 Victoria, chapter 48) or the port of Quebec as defined in The Quebec Harbour Commissioners Act, 1899 (62-63 Victoria, chapter 34); (port)

proper authority

autorité compétente

proper authority, when used in Part IV, means

• (a) with respect to a place not within Canada or any other Commonwealth country, a consular officer, or, if there is no consular officer in the place, any two British merchants resident at or near the place, or, if there is only one British merchant so resident, that British merchant, and

• (b) with respect to a place within a Commonwealth country,

  • (i) in relation to the discharge or leaving behind of seamen, or the payment of penalties, a person designated by the Governor in Council, and in the absence of such a person, a superintendent as defined in the Merchant Shipping Acts, or, in the absence of any such superintendent, the chief officer of customs at or near the place, and

  • (ii) in relation to distressed seamen, a person designated by the Governor in Council, and in the absence of such a person, the governor of any Commonwealth country, or any person acting under his authority; (autorité compétente)

proper officer

fonctionnaire compétent

proper officer, when used in Parts III and IV, means

• (a) in Canada, a shipping master,

• (b) at a port in the United Kingdom, a person designated by the Governor in Council, and in the absence of such a person, a superintendent,

• (c) at a port in any other Commonwealth country, a person designated by the Governor in Council, and in the absence of such a person, a superintendent or shipping master, or in the absence of any such superintendent or shipping master, the chief officer of customs at or near the port, and

• (d) at a port elsewhere, a consular officer; (fonctionnaire compétent)

qualified person

personne qualifiée

qualified person means

• (a) a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, or

• (b) a corporation incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province; (personne qualifiée)

Radio Regulations

règlements sur la radio

Radio Regulations means the regulations respecting radio made by the Governor in Council and the Minister respectively under sections 342 and 343; (règlements sur la radio)

radio-telegraph

radiotélégraphie

radio-telegraph includes a system of radio communication for the transmission of written matter by the use of a signal code; (radiotélégraphie)

radio-telephone

radiotéléphonie

radio-telephone includes a system of radio communication for the transmission of speech or, in some cases, other sounds; (radiotéléphonie)

recorded vessel

recorded vessel[Repealed, 1998, c. 16, s. 1]

Register

Registre

Register means the Canadian Register of Ships established under section 13; (Registre)

register tonnage

jauge au registre

register tonnage means the net tonnage shown on a ship’s certificate of registry; (jauge au registre)

registrar

registrar[Repealed, 1998, c. 16, s. 1]

remuneration

rémunération

remuneration includes fuel and ships’ stores of any kind or any other kind of payment or compensation; (rémunération)

representation

représentation

representation means probate, administration, confirmation or other instrument constituting a person the executor, administrator or other representative of a deceased person; (représentation)

rules for life-saving appliances

règles sur les engins de sauvetage

rules for life-saving appliances means the regulations respecting life-boats, buoyant apparatus and other life-saving equipment made under section 338; (règles sur les engins de sauvetage)

Safety Convention

Convention de sécurité

Safety Convention means the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, signed at London on November 1, 1974 and the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, signed at London on February 17, 1978, and any amendments, whenever made, to the Annex to that Convention other than Chapter I of the Annex; (Convention de sécurité)

Safety Convention ship

navire ressortissant à la Convention de sécurité

Safety Convention ship means a steamship, other than a ship of war, a troop ship or a fishing vessel, registered in a country to which the Safety Convention applies, that is on an international voyage and

• (a) is carrying more than twelve passengers,

• (b) is of three hundred tons gross tonnage or more, or

• (c) is a nuclear ship; (navire ressortissant à la Convention de sécurité)

sailing ship

voilier ou navire à voiles

sailing ship, except for the purposes of the Load Line Rules, means

• (a) a ship that is propelled wholly by sails, and

• (b) a ship that is principally employed in fishing, not exceeding two hundred tons gross tonnage, provided with masts, sails and rigging sufficient to allow it to make voyages under sail alone, and that, in addition, is fitted with mechanical means of propulsion other than a steam engine; (voilier ou navire à voiles)

sea-going ship

navire de mer

sea-going ship means any ship employed on a voyage any part of which is on the sea; (navire de mer)

seaman

marin

seaman includes

• (a) every person, except masters, pilots and apprentices duly indentured and registered, employed or engaged in any capacity on board any ship, and

• (b) for the purposes of the Seamen’s Repatriation Convention, every person employed or engaged in any capacity on board any vessel and entered on the ship’s articles,

but does not include pilots, cadets and pupils on training ships and naval ratings, or other persons in the permanent service of a government except when used in Part IV where it includes an apprentice to the sea service; (marin)

Seamen’s Articles Convention

Convention concernant le contrat d’engagement des marins

Seamen’s Articles Convention means the International Convention respecting Seamen’s Articles of Agreement adopted by the International Labour Conference at Geneva on June 24, 1926; (Convention concernant le contrat d’engagement des marins)

Seamen’s Repatriation Convention

Convention concernant le rapatriement des marins

Seamen’s Repatriation Convention means the International Convention concerning the repatriation of seamen adopted by the International Labour Conference at Geneva on June 24, 1926 as modified by the recommendation of the same date respecting masters and apprentices; (Convention concernant le rapatriement des marins)

ship

navire

ship, except in Parts II, XV and XVI, includes

• (a) any description of vessel used in navigation and not propelled by oars, and

• (b) for the purpose of Part I and sections 574 to 581, any description of lighter, barge or like vessel used in navigation in Canada however propelled; (navire)

ship station

station de bord ou station de navire

ship station means any radio station established on board a ship that is not permanently moored; (station de bord ou station de navire)

ships belonging to Her Majesty

navires appartenant à Sa Majesté

ships belonging to Her Majesty means all ships of war and other unregistered vessels held by or on behalf of Her Majesty in right of any Commonwealth country; (navires appartenant à Sa Majesté)

shipwrecked persons

naufragés

shipwrecked persons includes persons belonging to or on board any British or foreign vessel, wrecked, stranded or in distress, at any place within Canada; (naufragés)

special passenger trade

transport spécial de passagers

special passenger trade means a trade in relation to which the Governor in Council has modified the construction regulations or the rules for life-saving appliances in pursuance of this Act; (transport spécial de passagers)

special purpose personnel

personnel d’un navire à usage spécial

special purpose personnel means a person designated as special purpose personnel under subsection 379.1(1); (personnel d’un navire à usage spécial)

special purpose ship

navire à usage spécial

special purpose ship means a ship designated as a special purpose ship under subsection 379.1(1); (navire à usage spécial)

steamship or steamer

navire à vapeur ou vapeur

steamship or steamer, except as provided under the Load Line Rules, means any ship propelled by machinery and not coming within the definition of sailing ship; (navire à vapeur ou vapeur)

tackle

outillage de chargement

tackle, when used in relation to a vessel, means the tackle, machinery, gear, apparatus and appliances used on board the vessel for the loading and unloading thereof; (outillage de chargement)

tonnage regulations

tonnage regulations[Repealed, 1998, c. 16, s. 1]

tug

remorqueur

tug means a steamship used exclusively for towing purposes; (remorqueur)

valuable securities

valeurs ou titres valables

valuable securities includes every document forming the title or evidence of the title to any property of any kind whatever; (valeurs ou titres valables)

value of the property liable

valeur des biens répondants

value of the property liable, in respect of jurisdiction in matters of salvage, means the value of the property when first brought into safety by the salvors; (valeur des biens répondants)

vessel

bâtiment

vessel includes any ship or boat or any other description of vessel used or designed to be used in navigation; (bâtiment)

voyage

voyage

voyage includes passage or trip and any movement of a ship from one place to another or from one place and returning to that place; (voyage)

wages

gages ou salaire

wages includes emoluments; (gages ou salaire)

West Indies

Antilles

West Indies includes the West Indies and the Bahama and Bermuda Islands; (Antilles)

wharf

quai

wharf includes all wharfs, quays, docks and premises in or on which any goods, when landed from ships, may be lawfully placed; (quai)

wreck

épaves

wreck includes

• (a) jetsam, flotsam, lagan and derelict found in or on the shores of the sea or of any tidal water, or of any of the inland waters of Canada,

• (b) cargo, stores and tackle of any vessel and of all parts of the vessel separated therefrom,

• (c) the property of shipwrecked persons, and

• (d) any wrecked aircraft, any part or cargo of any wrecked aircraft and any property in the possession of persons on board any aircraft that is wrecked, stranded or in distress; (épaves)

year

année

year means a calendar year, but for the purpose of the inspection of steamships by this Act rendered imperative, means twelve calendar months from the date of the certificate of inspection. (année)

Marginal note:References to owner

2.1 Every reference in this Act, other than in Part I, to “owner” shall be read as a reference to

• (a) in respect of a Canadian ship described in paragraph 17(b) (a ship owned by a foreign corporation), its authorized representative; and

• (b) in respect of a ship described in section 18 (a bare-boat chartered ship), the bare-boat charterer.

Marginal note:Air cushion vehicles

3 Except as provided in section 632, this Act does not apply to air cushion vehicles.

PART 0.1General

Her Majesty

Marginal note:Binding on Her Majesty

4 Except as otherwise provided, this Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

Objectives

Marginal note:Objectives of Act

5 The objectives of this Act are to

• (a) protect the health and well-being of individuals, including the crews of ships, who participate in marine transportation and commerce;

• (b) promote safety in the marine transportation system;

• (c) protect the marine environment from damage due to navigation and shipping activities;

• (d) develop a regulatory scheme that encourages viable, effective and economical marine transportation and commerce;

• (e) promote an efficient marine transportation system;

• (f) ensure that Canada can meet its international obligations under bilateral and multilateral agreements with respect to navigation and shipping;

• (g) encourage the harmonization of marine practices;

• (h) provide an appropriate liability and compensation regime in relation to incidents involving ships; and

• (i) establish an effective inspection and enforcement program.

Application

Marginal note:Exclusion

• 6 (1) Except as otherwise provided, this Act, other than sections 467 to 471 and 565 to 567, does not apply to a vessel belonging to the Canadian Forces or a foreign military force or to any other vessel that is under the command, control or direction of the Canadian Forces.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (2) The Governor in Council may make regulations varying or excluding the application, in respect of government ships, of any provision of this Act.

Ministerial Responsibility

Marginal note:Role of Minister

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

Powers of Ministers

Marginal note:General

• 8 (1) For the purpose of achieving the objectives set out in section 5, 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 of any provision of this Act or the regulations and authorize any person with whom an agreement or arrangement is entered into to exercise or perform such powers and duties under this Act as are specified in the agreement or arrangement.

• Marginal note:Emergency power of Minister of Transport

  (2) Subject to any conditions that the Minister of Transport considers appropriate, the Minister may exempt for a specified period any ship owner, ship or class of ships from the application of any provision of this Act or the regulations if the 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. Notice of every exemption must be published in the Canada Gazette.

Interim Orders

Marginal note:Interim orders

• 8.1 (1) The Minister of Transport or the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, or both, may make an interim order that contains any of the following provisions, if the Minister or Ministers, as the case may be, believe that immediate action is required to deal with a significant risk, direct or indirect, to safety, security or the environment:

  • (a) and (b) [Not in force]

  • (c) in the case of the Minister of Transport, any provision that may be contained in a regulation made under any other section of this Act, other than section 727.7.

• Marginal note:Cessation of effect

  (2) An interim order has effect from the time that it is made but ceases to have effect on the earliest of

  • (a) 14 days after it is made, unless it is approved by the Governor in Council,

  • (b) the day on which it is repealed,

  • (c) the day on which a regulation made under this Act, that has the same effect as the interim order, comes into force, and

  • (d) one year after the interim order is made or any shorter period that may be specified in the interim order.

• Marginal note:Contravention of unpublished order

  (3) No person or ship shall be convicted of an offence consisting of a contravention of an interim order that, at the time of the alleged contravention, had not been published in the Canada Gazette unless it is proved that, at the time of the alleged contravention, the person or ship had been notified of the interim order or reasonable steps had been taken to bring the purport of the interim order to the notice of those persons or ships likely to be affected by it.

• Marginal note:Exemption from Statutory Instruments Act

  (4) An interim order

  • (a) is exempt from the application of sections 3, 5 and 11 of the Statutory Instruments Act; and

  • (b) shall be published in the Canada Gazette within 23 days after it is made.

• Marginal note:Deeming

  (5) For the purpose of any provision of this Act other than this section, any reference to regulations made under this Act is deemed to include interim orders, and any reference to a regulation made under a specified provision of this Act is deemed to include a reference to the portion of an interim order containing any provision that may be contained in a regulation made under the specified provision.

• Marginal note:Tabling of order

  (6) A copy of each interim order must be tabled in each House of Parliament within 15 days after it is made.

• Marginal note:House not sitting

  (7) In order to comply with subsection (6), the interim order may be sent to the Clerk of the House if the House is not sitting.

Authorized Representative

Marginal note:Authorized representative

• 9 (1) Every Canadian ship, other than a pleasure craft, must have a person who is responsible for acting with respect to all matters relating to the ship and who is to be known as the authorized representative.

• Marginal note:Authorized representative

  (2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the authorized representative of a Canadian ship is the owner of the ship or, in the case of a ship described in section 18 (a bare-boat chartered ship), the bare-boat charterer.

• Marginal note:Representative if more than one owner

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

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

  • (b) an employee or 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 ship is bound by the acts or omissions of their authorized representative with respect to any matter relating to the ship.

Incorporation by Reference

Marginal note:Externally produced material

• 10 (1) For greater certainty, a regulation made under this Act may incorporate by reference material produced by a person or body other than the authority making the regulation, including

  • (a) an organization established for the purpose of writing standards, including an organization accredited by the Standards Council of Canada;

  • (b) an industrial or trade organization; and

  • (c) a government, government agency or international body.

• Marginal note:Reproduced or translated material

  (2) For greater certainty, a regulation made under this Act may incorporate by reference material that the authority making the regulation reproduces or translates from material produced by a person or body other than that authority

  • (a) with any adaptations of form and reference that will facilitate the incorporation of the material in the regulation; or

  • (b) in a form that sets out only the parts of the material that apply for the purposes of the regulation.

• Marginal note:Jointly produced material

  (3) For greater certainty, a regulation made under this Act may incorporate by reference material that the authority making the regulation produces jointly with another government or government agency for the purpose of harmonizing the regulation with other laws.

• Marginal note:Internally produced standards

  (4) For greater certainty, a regulation made under this Act may incorporate by reference technical or explanatory material that the authority making the regulation produces, such as

  • (a) specifications, classifications, illustrations, graphs and other information of a technical nature; and

  • (b) test methods, procedures, operational standards, safety standards and performance standards of a technical nature.

• Marginal note:Incorporation as amended from time to time

  (5) For greater certainty, material may be incorporated by reference as amended from time to time.

• Marginal note:Incorporated material is not a regulation

  (6) For greater certainty, material that is incorporated by reference in a regulation made under this Act is not a regulation for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act.

• Marginal note:Authority making regulations

  (7) If a regulation is authorized to be made by the Governor in Council, the minister who recommends the making of it to the Governor in Council is deemed to be an authority who is authorized to make the regulation.

Marginal note:Defence

11 For greater certainty, no person or ship may be convicted of an offence or subjected to a penalty for the contravention of a provision of a regulation made under this Act that incorporates material by reference, unless it is proved that, at the time of the alleged contravention,

• (a) the material was reasonably accessible to the person or ship;

• (b) reasonable steps had been taken to ensure that the material was accessible to persons or ships likely to be affected by the regulation; or

• (c) the material had been published in the Canada Gazette.

PART IRegistration, Listing, Recording and Licensing

Canadian Register of Ships and Registrars

Marginal note:Appointment of Chief Registrar

12 The Minister is to appoint an officer to be known as the Chief Registrar.

Marginal note:Duties of Chief Registrar

• 13 (1) The Chief Registrar is responsible for establishing and maintaining a register to be known as the Canadian Register of Ships.

• Marginal note:Records

  (2) The Register is to contain records of the information and documents specified by the Chief Registrar in respect of a Canadian ship, including

  • (a) its name and description;

  • (b) its official number;

  • (c) its register tonnage;

  • (d) the name and address of its owner; and

  • (e) details of all mortgages registered in respect of it.

Marginal note:Registrars

• 14 (1) The Chief Registrar may appoint the registrars that the Chief Registrar considers necessary.

• Marginal note:Duties of registrars

  (2) A registrar is to perform the duties and responsibilities that the Chief Registrar assigns to the registrar.

Marginal note:Immunity

15 The Chief Registrar and the registrars are not personally liable for anything they do or omit to do in good faith under this Act.

Registration, Listing and Recording

Marginal note:Mandatory registration — ships that exceed 15 tons

• 16 (1) Every ship that exceeds 15 tons gross tonnage, is owned only by qualified persons and is not registered in a foreign country must be registered under this Part.

• Marginal note:Obligation of owner

  (2) Every owner of a ship described in subsection (1) shall ensure that it is registered under this Part.

• Marginal note:Mandatory registration — government ships

  (3) Every government ship that exceeds 15 tons gross tonnage must be registered under this Part.

Marginal note:Optional registration

17 Unless they are registered in a foreign country, the following ships may be registered under this Part:

• (a) a ship that is owned only by qualified persons and that does not exceed 15 tons gross tonnage;

• (b) a ship that is owned by a corporation incorporated under the laws of a country other than Canada if one of the following is acting with respect to all matters relating to the ship, namely,

  • (i) a subsidiary of the corporation that is incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province,

  • (ii) an employee or director in Canada of any branch office of the corporation that is carrying on business in Canada, or

  • (iii) a ship management company incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province; and

• (c) a ship that is in the exclusive possession of a qualified person under a financing agreement under which the person will acquire ownership on completion of the agreement.

Marginal note:Ships registered in a foreign country

18 A ship registered in a foreign country that is bare-boat chartered exclusively to a qualified person may be listed under this Part as a bare-boat chartered ship for the duration of the charter if, for the duration of the charter, the registration is suspended in respect of the right to fly the flag of that country.

Marginal note:Ships under construction

19 A ship that is about to be built or that is under construction in Canada may be temporarily recorded in the Register as a ship being built in Canada.

Marginal note:Ships built outside Canada

20 Notwithstanding sections 16, 17 and 18, the Minister may direct the Chief Registrar to refuse to register or list a ship built outside Canada.

Application

Marginal note:Application

• 21 (1) An application for the registration, listing or recording of a ship must be made in the form and manner and include the information and be accompanied by the documents specified by the Chief Registrar.

• Marginal note:Further evidence

  (2) In addition to the specified information or documentation, the Chief Registrar may require an applicant to provide evidence, including declarations, that the Chief Registrar considers necessary to establish that a ship is required or entitled to be registered or is entitled to be listed or recorded.

Names of Ships

Marginal note:Name of ship

• 22 (1) Every ship must be named in the form and manner specified by the Chief Registrar before being registered or listed.

• Marginal note:Approval of names

  (2) The Chief Registrar may, on application, approve the name of a ship before it is registered or listed and approve a change in the name of a Canadian ship.

• Marginal note:Disallowance of names

  (3) The Chief Registrar must disallow any name if

  • (a) it is the same as the name of a Canadian ship;

  • (b) it is likely, in the opinion of the Chief Registrar, to be confused with the name of a Canadian ship or with a distress signal;

  • (c) it is likely, in the opinion of the Chief Registrar, to be offensive to members of the public; or

  • (d) its use is prohibited under any other Act of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Requiring renaming

  (4) The Minister may order that a Canadian ship be renamed if the Minister considers that its name would prejudice the international reputation of Canada.

Ownership of Ships

Marginal note:Shares

• 23 (1) For the purposes of registration, the property in a ship is divided into 64 shares.

• Marginal note:Registered owners

  (2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), only owners, or joint owners, of a ship or of one or more shares in a ship may be registered in the Register as owners of the ship or shares, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Registered owners — financing agreements

  (3) In the case of a ship described in paragraph 17(c) (a ship subject to a financing agreement), persons referred to in that paragraph are to be registered in the Register as the owners of the ships.

• Marginal note:Bare-boat charterers

  (4) In the case of a ship described in section 18 (a bare-boat chartered ship), no person is to be registered in the Register as an owner of the ship.

• Marginal note:Registration of joint owners

  (5) No more than five persons may be registered in the Register as joint owners of a ship or a share in a ship.

• Marginal note:Disposition of registered joint interests

  (6) A registered jointly owned interest in a ship or a share in a ship may be disposed of only by all of the joint owners.

• Marginal note:Registration of fractions prohibited

  (7) No person may be registered as the owner of a fractional part of a share in a ship.

• Marginal note:No effect on beneficial owners

  (8) This section does not affect the beneficial interests of a person represented by or claiming through an owner of a ship or a share in a ship.

• Marginal note:Trusts not recognized

  (9) No notice of a trust may be entered in the Register.

Certificates

Marginal note:Certificates of registry

• 24 (1) If the Chief Registrar is satisfied that all of the requirements of registration or listing have been met with respect to a ship, the Chief Registrar must register or list the ship, as the case may be, in the Register and issue a certificate of registry.

• Marginal note:Information

  (2) Every certificate of registry in respect of a ship must contain the information specified by the Chief Registrar, including

  • (a) its name and description;

  • (b) its official number;

  • (c) its register tonnage; and

  • (d) the name and address of

    • (i) in the case of a ship described in paragraph 17(b) (a ship owned by a foreign corporation), its authorized representative,

    • (ii) in the case of a ship described in section 18 (a bare-boat chartered ship), the bare-boat charterer, and

    • (iii) in any other case, its owner.

• Marginal note:Validity of certificates of registry

  (3) Certificates of registry are valid for the period that the Minister specifies.

Marginal note:Provisional certificates

• 25 (1) The Chief Registrar may, on application, issue a provisional certificate in respect of a ship that is required or entitled to be registered under this Part if the ship

  • (a) is in a foreign port and a person intends to register it under this Part; or

  • (b) is in a port in Canada and the Chief Registrar is satisfied that permission to operate the ship should be granted before a certificate of registry can be issued.

• Marginal note:Issuance

  (2) The Chief Registrar may, on application, issue a provisional certificate in respect of a ship that is not required or entitled to be registered under this Part if the Chief Registrar is satisfied that the ship needs to undergo sea trials.

• Marginal note:Validity

  (3) A provisional certificate is valid for the purpose and the period that the Chief Registrar specifies.

• Marginal note:Application

  (4) An application for a provisional certificate must be made in the form and manner and include the information and be accompanied by the documents specified by the Chief Registrar.

Marginal note:Lost certificates

26 If a certificate of registry or provisional certificate is mislaid, lost or destroyed, the Chief Registrar, on application made by the authorized representative of the ship in the form and manner and including the information and accompanied by the documents specified by the Chief Registrar, must issue a replacement certificate of registry or provisional certificate, as the case may be.

Marking

Marginal note:Marking

• 27 (1) The authorized representative of a Canadian ship shall, in the form and manner specified by the Chief Registrar, mark the ship with its name, its register tonnage, its official number and any other information that the Chief Registrar specifies.

• Marginal note:Validity of certificate of registry

  (2) A ship’s certificate of registry is not valid until the ship has been marked in accordance with subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Maintenance of markings

  (3) The authorized representative shall ensure that the ship is kept marked.

• Marginal note:Defacing, etc., markings

  (4) No person shall deface, alter, conceal or remove the markings of a Canadian ship.

Notifying Chief Registrar

Marginal note:Notification of changes

• 28 (1) The authorized representative of a Canadian ship shall notify the Chief Registrar within 30 days after any of the following occurs:

  • (a) the ship is lost, wrecked or removed from service;

  • (b) there has been a change in the owner’s or a registered mortgagee’s name or address;

  • (c) there has been a change in the information provided with the application under section 21; or

  • (d) in the case of a ship described in section 18 (a bare-boat chartered ship),

    • (i) the right to fly the flag of the foreign country is reinstated, or

    • (ii) the charterer ceases to have complete control and possession of the ship.

• Marginal note:Notification of alterations

  (2) If a Canadian ship is altered to the extent that it no longer corresponds with its description or particulars set out on the certificate of registry, the authorized representative of the ship shall

  • (a) notify the Chief Registrar within 30 days after the alteration; and

  • (b) arrange for a new tonnage certificate to be provided to the Chief Registrar.

• Marginal note:Notification of changes

  (3) If for any reason a Canadian ship does not have an authorized representative, its owner shall notify the Chief Registrar

  • (a) of that fact as soon as possible in the circumstances; and

  • (b) within 30 days after any of the events referred to in subsection (1) or (2) occurs.

• Marginal note:Notification of completion of construction

  (4) Within 30 days after completion of the construction of a ship that is recorded as being built in Canada, the person in whose name the ship is recorded shall notify the Chief Registrar of that fact and of the name and address of its owner.

Maintenance of Register

Marginal note:Amendments

29 The Chief Registrar may amend the Register or a certificate of registry to give effect to changes of which the Chief Registrar has been notified under section 28 or to correct any clerical errors or obvious mistakes.

Suspension, Cancellation and Reinstatement of Registration

Marginal note:Suspension and cancellation

• 30 (1) Subject to the regulations, the Chief Registrar may suspend or cancel the registration or listing of a Canadian ship if

  • (a) it is not marked in accordance with subsection 27(1);

  • (b) its certificate of registry has expired;

  • (c) it does not have an authorized representative; or

  • (d) its authorized representative has not complied with section 28.

• Marginal note:Cancellation

  (2) Subject to the regulations, the Chief Registrar must cancel the registration or listing of a Canadian ship if

  • (a) it has been lost, wrecked or removed from service;

  • (b) it is no longer required or entitled to be registered or entitled to be listed under this Part; or

  • (c) in the case of a registered ship, a tonnage certificate provided by a tonnage measurer indicates that the ship should be re-registered.

• Marginal note:Notice before cancellation

  (3) If a Canadian ship is not required or entitled to be registered under this Part after its ownership changes, the Chief Registrar must, before cancelling its registration under paragraph (2)(b), give the owners and registered mortgagees

  • (a) notice, in accordance with the regulations, of the change in ownership; and

  • (b) an opportunity that, in the opinion of the Chief Registrar, is sufficient to transfer the ship or shares to a qualified person or to make an application under section 46.

• Marginal note:Cancellation of registration

  (4) Except in the case of a ship described in paragraph 17(c) (a ship subject to a financing agreement), the Chief Registrar must cancel the registration of a ship if a person who acquires the ship or a share in it does not, within the prescribed period, provide evidence that satisfies the Chief Registrar that the ship is required or entitled to be registered under this Part.

Marginal note:Registration of mortgages not affected

31 The cancellation of the registration of a ship does not affect the registration of mortgages in respect of the ship.

Marginal note:Reinstatement

32 The Chief Registrar may reinstate the registration or listing of a ship if, in the Chief Registrar’s opinion, the registration or listing of the ship should not have been cancelled.

Custody of Certificates of Registry

Marginal note:Carrying on board ship

• 33 (1) Subject to subsection (3), no person shall operate a ship in respect of which a certificate of registry or provisional certificate has been issued unless the certificate is on board the ship.

• Marginal note:Delivery of certificate

  (2) A person who is in possession of a ship’s certificate of registry or provisional certificate shall deliver it to the person who is entitled to operate the ship.

• Marginal note:Delivery of certificate

  (3) A person who is in possession of a certificate of registry or a provisional certificate issued under this Part shall deliver it to the Chief Registrar on request.

• Marginal note:Detention of certificate

  (4) A certificate of registry or provisional certificate is not subject to detention because of any title to, lien on, charge on or interest in the ship that is claimed by an owner, mortgagee, charterer or operator of the ship, or by any other person.

Rights and Obligations

Marginal note:Right to fly Canadian flag

• 34 (1) A Canadian ship has the right to fly the Canadian flag.

• Marginal note:Obligation to fly flag

  (2) The master of a Canadian ship shall fly the Canadian flag

  • (a) when signalled to do so by a government ship or a ship under the command of the Canadian Forces; or

  • (b) when entering or leaving, or while moored at or anchored in, a port.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) The Chief Registrar may, on application, suspend the registration of a Canadian ship in respect of the right to fly the Canadian flag while the ship is shown on the registry of a foreign country as a bare-boat chartered ship.

Calculation of Ships’ Tonnage

Marginal note:Appointment of tonnage measurers

35 The Minister may appoint persons, to be known as tonnage measurers, to calculate ships’ tonnage.

Marginal note:Fees and travel expenses

36 A tonnage measurer may withhold the tonnage certificate in respect of a ship until the person requesting it pays the tonnage measurer’s fees and travel expenses. The Minister may set limits on the fees and travel expenses that may be charged.

Mortgages

Marginal note:Mortgage of ship or share

• 37 (1) The owner of a ship registered under this Part, of a share in one or of a ship recorded as being built in Canada may give the ship or share, as the case may be, as security for a mortgage to be registered under this Part.

• Marginal note:Filing of mortgage

  (2) A mortgage is to be filed with the Chief Registrar in the form and manner specified by the Chief Registrar.

• Marginal note:Date and time of registration

  (3) A mortgage is to be registered in the order in which it is filed, indicating the date and time of the registration.

Marginal note:Entry of discharge of mortgage

38 On receipt of satisfactory evidence that a mortgage has been discharged, the Chief Registrar is to enter the discharge in the Register.

Marginal note:Priority of mortgages

• 39 (1) If more than one mortgage is registered in respect of the same ship or share in a ship, the priority among the mortgages is according to the date and time of registration.

• Marginal note:Consent to change in priority

  (2) The priority of mortgages may be changed if all of the mortgagees file their written consent with the Chief Registrar.

Marginal note:Mortgagee not treated as owner

40 A mortgage of a ship or a share in a ship does not have the effect of the mortgagee becoming, or the mortgagor ceasing to be, the owner of the ship, except to the extent necessary to make the ship or share available as security under the mortgage.

Marginal note:Mortgagee has power of sale

• 41 (1) A mortgagee of a ship or a share in a ship has the absolute power, subject to any limitation set out in the registered mortgage, to sell the ship or the share.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (2) If there is more than one registered mortgage of the same ship or share, a subsequent mortgagee may not, except under the order of the Federal Court or of a court of competent jurisdiction whose rules provide for in rem procedure in respect of ships, sell the ship or share without the agreement of every prior mortgagee.

Marginal note:Mortgage not affected by bankruptcy

42 The mortgage of a ship or a share in a ship is not affected by the bankruptcy of the mortgagor after the date of the registration of the mortgage, and the mortgage is to be preferred to any right, claim or interest in the ship or share of the other creditors of the bankrupt or any trustee or assignee on their behalf.

Marginal note:Transfer of mortgages

• 43 (1) A registered mortgage of a ship or a share in a ship may be transferred to any person, in which case the instrument effecting the transfer must be filed in the form and manner specified by the Chief Registrar.

• Marginal note:Entry of particulars

  (2) The Chief Registrar is to enter the particulars of the transfer in the Register.

Marginal note:Transmission of interest of mortgagee

• 44 (1) If the interest of a mortgagee in a ship or a share in a ship is transmitted on death or bankruptcy, or by any lawful means other than by a transfer under section 43, the person to whom the interest is transmitted must file with the Chief Registrar the evidence of the transmission that the Chief Registrar specifies.

• Marginal note:Entry of particulars

  (2) The Chief Registrar is to enter the particulars of the transmission in the Register.

Transfers of Ships or Shares in Ships

Marginal note:Transfer

45 If the ownership of a Canadian ship or a share in one changes and the ship is still required or entitled to be registered under this Part,

• (a) the owner must provide the Chief Registrar with the evidence, including declarations, that the Chief Registrar considers necessary to establish that the ship is required or entitled to be registered; and

• (b) the Chief Registrar must amend the Register and the ship’s certificate of registry to reflect the change.

Marginal note:Order for sale on acquisition by an unqualified person

46 If an unqualified person acquires a Canadian ship, other than a ship described in paragraph 17(b) (a ship owned by a foreign corporation), a ship described in paragraph 17(c) (a ship subject to a financing agreement) or a ship described in section 18 (a bare-boat chartered ship), or a share in one, any interested person may apply to the Federal Court, or any court of competent jurisdiction whose rules provide for in rem procedure in respect of ships, for an order that the ship or share, as the case may be, be sold to a qualified person.

Marginal note:Power of court to prohibit transfer

47 On the application of any interested person, the Federal Court, or any court of competent jurisdiction whose rules provide for in rem procedure in respect of ships, may make an order prohibiting for a specified period any dealing with a Canadian ship or a share in one.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

48 The Governor in Council may make regulations

• (a) respecting the registration, listing and recording of ships;

• (b) respecting the issuance and renewal of certificates of registry;

• (c) respecting the suspension and cancellation of the registration of a Canadian ship;

• (d) respecting the naming and marking of ships;

• (e) respecting the port of registration;

• (f) respecting the form and manner of notifying the Chief Registrar of changes under section 28;

• (g) respecting the evidence that owners of ships previously registered in a foreign country must provide to prove that the ships are no longer registered in a foreign country;

• (h) respecting the calculation of the tonnage of ships and the issuance of certificates of tonnage;

• (i) to implement the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969, signed at London on June 23, 1969, including any amendments, whenever made, to the Annexes or Appendix to that Convention;

• (j) respecting the payment of fees for services provided in the administration of this Part and prescribing the amount of the fees;

• (k) prescribing anything that may be prescribed under this Part; and

• (l) generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Part.

Entries and Documents

Marginal note:Copies of entries

49 A person may examine or obtain copies of any entries in the Register with respect to a ship.

Marginal note:Documents admissible in evidence

50 The following documents are admissible as evidence in any court in Canada, in the manner provided by this Act:

• (a) either of the following that purports to be signed by the Chief Registrar or a registrar:

  • (i) a certified copy of any entry in the Register, or

  • (ii) in the case of electronic data, a printout of any entry in the Register;

• (b) a certificate of registry or a provisional certificate issued under this Part; and

• (c) every declaration made under this Part.

Offences and Punishment

Marginal note:Contravention of Act or regulations

• 51 (1) Every person commits an offence who contravenes

  • (a) subsection 16(2) (failure to register);

  • (b) subsection 27(1) (failure to mark);

  • (c) subsection 27(3) (maintenance of markings);

  • (d) subsection 27(4) (defacing, altering, concealing or removing markings);

  • (e) subsection 28(1) (failure to notify — authorized representative);

  • (f) subsection 28(2) (failure to notify of alteration — authorized representative);

  • (g) subsection 28(3) (failure to notify — owner);

  • (h) subsection 28(4) (failure to notify of completion of construction);

  • (i) subsection 33(1) (operation of ship without a certificate on board);

  • (j) subsection 33(2) (failure to deliver certificate to person entitled to operate ship);

  • (k) subsection 33(3) (failure to deliver certificate to Chief Registrar);

  • (l) subsection 34(2) (failure to fly Canadian flag);

  • (m) an order made under subsection 22(4) (renaming of ship); or

  • (n) a provision of the regulations made under this Part.

• Marginal note:False or misleading information, etc.

  (2) Every person commits an offence who, for the purpose of applying for the registration, listing or recording of a ship or the registration of a mortgage under this Part or of complying with this Part or the regulations, provides any person with false or misleading information.

• Marginal note:Punishment

  (3) Every person who commits an offence under subsection (1) or (2) is liable

  • (a) on conviction on indictment,

    • (i) if the offence is committed knowingly, to a fine of not more than $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or to both, and

    • (ii) if the offence is committed negligently, to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or to both; and

  • (b) on summary conviction,

    • (i) if the offence is committed knowingly, to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both, and

    • (ii) if the offence is committed negligently, to a fine of not more than $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both.

• Marginal note:Continuing offence

  (4) If an offence under this Part that arises out of a contravention of subsection 16(2) (failure to register) or 27(1) (failure to mark) is committed or continued on more than one day, the person who committed the offence is liable to be convicted for a separate offence for each day on which the offence is committed or continued.

• Marginal note:Words in parentheses

  (5) The words in parentheses in paragraphs (1)(a) to (m) and subsection (4) form no part of those paragraphs but are inserted for convenience of reference only.

Transitional

Marginal note:Acquired rights

• 52 (1) Every ship registered in Canada when this Part comes into force is deemed to be registered under this Part until the ship’s ownership changes.

• Marginal note:Expiry of certificates of registry

  (2) A certificate of registry issued under this Act before this Part comes into force expires no later than three years after this Part comes into force.

• Marginal note:Exemption from registration

  (3) Ships exempt from registration under this Act before this Part comes into force continue to be exempt until two years or, in the case of a pleasure craft, six years after this Part comes into force.

53 to 95 [Repealed, 1998, c. 16, s. 3]

96 to 99 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 5]

100 and 101 [Repealed, 1998, c. 16, s. 3]

102 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 7]

103 to 106 [Repealed, 1998, c. 16, s. 3]

107 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 8]

Licensing of Small Vessels

Marginal note:Small vessel licensing

108 The Governor in Council may, notwithstanding anything in this Part, make regulations

• (a) providing for the licensing of vessels that are exempted from registry under this Act;

• (b) providing for the marking of licensed vessels;

• (c) prescribing forms for licences and the forms for applications for licences;

• (d) providing for the designation of persons to be issuers of licences;

• (e) prescribing the fees to be paid for licences;

• (f) providing for the disposition, notwithstanding the Financial Administration Act, of licence fees collected by licence issuers;

• (g) prescribing the records to be kept and returns to be made by licence issuers; and

• (h) prescribing a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both to be imposed on summary conviction as punishment for contravention of a regulation made under this section.

PART IICertification of Masters and Seamen

Marginal note:Definition of “ship”

• 109 (1) In this Part, ship includes any description of vessel, boat or craft designed, used or capable of being used solely or partly for marine navigation, without regard to method or lack of propulsion, but excludes

  • (a) pleasure craft of less than twenty metres in length; and

  • (b) any vessel, boat or craft, of any length, propelled manually by oars or paddles.

• Marginal note:Application of regulations

  (2) Regulations made under subsection 110(1) do not apply in respect of ships capable of engaging in the drilling for, or the production, conservation or processing of, oil or gas unless the regulation so states and was made on the joint recommendation of the Minister and the Minister of Natural Resources.

• Marginal note:Meaning of “oil” and “gas”

  (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the words oil and gas have the same meanings as in the Oil and Gas Production and Conservation Act.

Masters and Seamen

Marginal note:Regulations

• 110 (1) Subject to subsection 109(2), the Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the certification of masters and seamen and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, may make regulations

  • (a) prescribing the types and classes of certificates that may be granted to masters and seamen and the grade that each such type or class bears in relation to every other type or class;

  • (b) prescribing classes of ships in respect of which a certificate is not valid in the absence of an endorsement on that certificate stating that the certificate is valid for service on that class of ship;

  • (c) respecting the qualifications, including medical fitness, degree of knowledge, skill, training and experience, that an applicant for any type or class of certificate must meet;

  • (d) respecting the information to be furnished by an applicant for any type or class of certificate and the manner of determining whether such an applicant meets the qualifications required under paragraph (c) for the type or class of certificate that he has applied for;

  • (e) respecting examinations relating to the granting of certificates;

  • (f) prescribing the fee to be paid for taking any examination relating to the granting of a certificate, the fee to be paid for granting a certificate and the terms and conditions of payment of those fees;

  • (g) prescribing the form of certificates;

  • (h) prescribing the terms and conditions of certificates;

  • (i) prescribing, except where section 120 applies, the grounds and procedures for the suspension or cancellation of certificates granted under this Part other than certificates of master, mate or engineer;

  • (j) prescribing the Canadian ships, or classes of Canadian ships, that are required to have on board and employ persons holding the certificates specified in the regulations and the number of such persons or the proportion of the crew consisting of such persons that each of those ships, or each ship of any such class, shall have on board and employ; and

  • (k) prescribing, with respect to each type or class of certificate, the duties on any ship or ship of any class prescribed by any regulation made under paragraph (j) that are to be performed by persons holding certificates of that type or class.

• Marginal note:Endorsements

  (2) The provisions of this Part respecting certificates apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to endorsements referred to in paragraph (1)(b).

• Marginal note:Prohibition

  (3) No person shall perform any duty on a ship that is prescribed by any regulation made under paragraph (1)(k) as being a duty on that ship that is to be performed by a holder of a certificate of the type or class specified in the regulation unless the person holds a valid certificate of that type or class or the ship is exempt from the requirements of that regulation pursuant to section 132.

• Marginal note:Offence

  (4) Any person who contravenes

  • (a) a regulation made under subsection (1) that is applicable to that person or to a ship of which that person is the owner or master, or

  • (b) subsection (3)

  is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars.

Marginal note:Publication of proposed regulations

• 111 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a copy of each regulation that the Governor in Council proposes to make under subsection 110(1) shall be published in the Canada Gazette at least ninety days before the proposed effective date thereof, and a reasonable opportunity within those ninety days shall be afforded to ship owners, masters, seamen and other interested persons to make representations to the Minister with respect thereto.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of a proposed regulation that

  • (a) has previously been published pursuant to that subsection, whether or not it has been changed as a result of representations made pursuant to that subsection, or

  • (b) makes no substantive change to an existing regulation,

  nor does subsection (1) apply where the Governor in Council is satisfied that an emergency situation exists and that compliance with subsection (1) would therefore be prejudicial to the public interest.

Marginal note:Application of regulations

112 Subject to subsection 109(2), the Governor in Council may extend the application of any regulation made under subsection 110(1) to or in respect of ships, other than Canadian ships, that are in Canadian waters.

113 to 116 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 9]

• 117 (1) [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 10]

• Marginal note:Newfoundland certificates may be accepted in lieu of certificates under this Part

  (2) Subject to such conditions as the Minister may impose, a certificate granted under the laws of Newfoundland as master or mate of a foreign-going or home-trade ship may be accepted in lieu of a certificate as master or mate granted under this Part and may be suspended or cancelled by the Minister under like conditions as in the case of a certificate issued under this Part.

118 and 119 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 11]

Marginal note:Medical incapacity of certificate holder

• 120 (1) Where the Minister believes on reasonable grounds that the holder of a certificate granted under this Part is incapacitated in respect of the performance of his duties as a certificated master or seaman by reason of his not meeting the medical fitness standards prescribed under paragraph 110(1)(c), the Minister may cause an inquiry to be held.

• Marginal note:Mode of inquiry

  (2) Subsections 504(2) to (4) apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in respect of an inquiry under this section.

• Marginal note:Suspension of certificate

  (3) Where, after an inquiry under this section, the Minister is satisfied that the certificated master or seaman is incapacitated in respect of the performance of his duties as such by reason of his not meeting the medical fitness standards prescribed under paragraph 110(1)(c), the Minister may suspend the certificate until such time as the Minister is satisfied that the holder thereof is no longer so incapacitated.

• Marginal note:Minister to notify certificate holder

  (4) The Minister shall forthwith notify in writing the holder of a certificate of his decision under subsection (3) and the reasons therefor.

Marginal note:Certificates to remain in force

121 Subject to the provisions of this Act or the regulations respecting the suspension, cancellation or invalidation of certificates, certificates issued to masters and mates before the coming into force of this section remain in force for the class of ship and voyage for which they were issued.

Engineers

• 122 (1) to (3) [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 12]

• Marginal note:No person to act in dual capacity

  (4) No person shall act in the dual capacity of master and engineer in any ship, except that, subject to such regulations as the Governor in Council may make, this section does not apply to any ship, not exceeding sixty-five feet registered length, propelled by an internal combustion or motor engine, or other mechanical power deemed by the Minister to be equivalent to an internal combustion engine in the circumstances.

Marginal note:Certificates to remain in force

123 Subject to the provisions of this Act or the regulations respecting the suspension, cancellation or invalidation of certificates, certificates issued to engineers before the coming into force of this section remain in force for the grades for which they were issued.

Examinations and Certificates

Marginal note:Examiners

• 124 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Minister may appoint any person to act as an examiner for the purposes of this Part or any regulations made thereunder.

• Marginal note:Examination of examiners

  (2) No person shall be appointed as an examiner unless he has himself satisfactorily completed an examination before two or more examiners as to his fitness and competency to act as an examiner.

• Marginal note:Oath

  (3) Where an examiner is of the opinion that any statement made by an applicant for a certificate under this Part should be confirmed under oath, the examiner may administer the oath.

Marginal note:Grant of certificate

• 125 (1) Where the Minister is satisfied, on the basis of the report of the examiners, that an applicant for a certificate under this Part

  • (a) meets the requirements prescribed under subsection 110(1) in respect of the certificate, and

  • (b) has given satisfactory evidence of his sobriety, experience, ability and general good conduct on board ship,

  the Minister may grant the certificate.

• Marginal note:Citizenship of applicants

  (2) A certificate shall not be granted under this Part to an applicant who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

• Marginal note:Re-examination or further inquiry

  (3) The Minister, in every case in which a report of examiners appears to him to have been unfair or improper, may remit the case either to the same or to any other examiner and may require a re-examination of the applicant or a further inquiry into his testimonials and character.

• Marginal note:Cancellation because of fraud or error

  (4) Where the Minister believes on reasonable grounds that the certificate of any master or seaman was obtained on a false statement or on erroneous information, the Minister may, with respect to either a certificate granted under this Part or a certificate granted in any other country, in so far only as concerns the validity of the latter certificate in Canada, suspend or cancel the certificate.

Marginal note:Provision for instruction

126 The Minister may, from time to time, take such measures as he deems fit to provide facilities to enable applicants for certificates under this Part to receive such instruction or information as may enable them to meet the qualifications prescribed by this Part and any regulations made thereunder in respect of those certificates.

127 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 13]

Reciprocal Arrangements Concerning Certificates

Marginal note:Recognition of certificates

• 128 (1) The Governor in Council may direct, subject to such conditions as he may impose, that any certificate of a master or seaman granted by any authority competent to issue those certificates under the laws of another country may be accepted in lieu of a certificate granted under this Part, if he is satisfied that examinations for the issue of those certificates are conducted as efficiently as the examinations for the same purpose provided for in this Part, and that the certificates are granted on such principles as to show the like qualifications and competency as those granted under this Part.

• Marginal note:Suspension or cancellation

  (2) Any certificate may, in so far only as concerns its validity in Canada, be suspended or cancelled by the Minister under like conditions to those that attach to a certificate issued under this Part, and any certificate so suspended or cancelled shall be delivered up by the owner to the Minister, who shall thereupon return it to the authority by which it was issued.

• Marginal note:Application restricted

  (3) This section applies only to certificates issued by the government of a country that has entered into a reciprocal arrangement with the Government of Canada to accept in lieu of certificates of that country certificates issued under this Part.

Offences Relating to Certificates

Marginal note:Forgery and fraud

129 Every person who

• (a) makes, procures to be made or assists in making any false representation for the purpose of obtaining for himself or for any other person any certificate granted under this Part;

• (b) forges, assists in forging or procures to be forged, or fraudulently alters, assists in fraudulently altering or procures to be fraudulently altered, any certificate described in paragraph (a) or any official copy thereof,

• (c) fraudulently makes use of any certificate described in paragraph (a) that is forged, altered, cancelled or suspended, or to which he is not justly entitled, or

• (d) fraudulently lends a certificate described in paragraph (a) to or allows the certificate to be used by any other person,

is guilty of an indictable offence.

Production of Certificates

Marginal note:Certificates to be produced to customs

• 130 (1) Where a ship is required by the regulations under this Part to have on board a master holding a master’s certificate, such master shall produce to every officer of customs in Canada to whom he applies for a clearance of that ship on any voyage the certificates that, under this Act or the regulations, the master and the mates and engineers of the ship are required to hold.

• Marginal note:No clearance without certificate

  (2) No officer of customs at any port in Canada shall clear the ship on any voyage unless the proper certificates are first produced to him, and the ship may be detained until those certificates are produced.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (3) If the master of the ship proceeds to sea without previous compliance with this section, he is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

131 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 17]

Marginal note:Exemptions by Minister

• 132 (1) The Minister may, on such conditions as he deems fit, exempt any ship from any requirement contained in regulations made under subsection 110(1) or from any requirement contained in section 130, or dispense with the observance of any such requirement in the case of any ship, if he is satisfied that the requirement has been substantially complied with in the case of that ship, or that compliance with the requirement is unnecessary in the circumstances of the case, and that the action taken or provision made with respect to the subject-matter of the requirement in the case of the ship is as effective as actual compliance with the requirement.

• Marginal note:Report to Parliament

  (2) The Minister shall annually lay before Parliament a special report stating the cases in which he has exercised his power under this section during the preceding year and the grounds on which he has acted in each case.

Marginal note:Offence

• 133 (1) Where the master of a ship produces to the chief officer of customs in Canada to whom he applies for a clearance the certificates that under this Act or the regulations the mates and engineers of the ship are required to hold, and the master obtains a clearance by representing that any person holding such a certificate is engaged as a mate or engineer of the ship for the voyage for which the clearance is obtained, and afterwards the master proceeds from any place in Canada without having on board that person or some other mate or engineer holding a certificate of the proper grade, type or class to act in his stead, the master is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where a person knowingly allows his certificate as mate or engineer to be produced by the master of a ship to the chief officer of customs in Canada to whom the master applies for a clearance, and the person does not, without satisfactory excuse, proceed with the ship, as mate or engineer, on the voyage for which the clearance is obtained, that person is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars.

• Marginal note:Suspension of certificate

  (3) The Minister may, with respect to either a certificate granted under this Part or a certificate granted in another country, in so far only as concerns the validity of the latter certificate in Canada, suspend, for any period not exceeding twelve months, the certificate of any person convicted of an offence under subsection (1) or (2).

Marginal note:Tug or other ship

134 The master of any tug or other ship required to have a certificated master, but so employed as not to require a clearance, shall, whenever required by any officer of customs, produce the master’s certificate as master and the certificate of the engineer on board to that officer, and for each contravention of this section the master is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.

Miscellaneous

Marginal note:Record

135 A record of all certificates granted under this Part shall be kept in the Department.

Marginal note:Entry of cancellation, etc.

136 Whenever notice of the cancelling, suspending or altering or otherwise affecting, by competent authority, of any certificate is received by the Department, there shall thereupon be made a corresponding entry in the record of certificates.

Marginal note:Certificates to be delivered up

• 137 (1) Where a certificate granted under this Part is suspended, cancelled or invalidated by or pursuant to this Act or the regulations, the holder of the certificate shall, as soon as possible, deliver it up to the Minister.

• Marginal note:Restoration of certificate

  (2) The Minister may, if he thinks that the justice of the case requires it, reissue and return any certificate granted under this Part that has been suspended, cancelled or invalidated by or pursuant to this Act or the regulations, shorten the time for which such certificate is suspended or grant in place thereof a certificate of the same or any lower grade.

Marginal note:Loss of certificate or document

• 138 (1) Where a master or seaman has lost or been deprived of

  • (a) any certificate granted under this Part, or

  • (b) any document attesting the result of an examination relating to the granting of a certificate under this Part,

  the Minister shall, subject to subsection (2), cause a replacement of the original certificate or document to be made out, certified and delivered to that master or seaman.

• Marginal note:Where master or seaman at fault

  (2) Where the Minister is satisfied that the loss or deprivation referred to in subsection (1) was due to fault on the part of the master or seaman in question, a replacement of the original certificate or document shall not be provided except on payment of a fee fixed by the Minister.

Marginal note:Certificates as evidence

• 139 (1) All documents purporting to be certificates granted by the Minister under this Part, and to be signed by him, shall be admitted in evidence, and shall be deemed to be valid certificates, without further proof, unless the contrary is shown.

• Marginal note:Certified copies

  (2) A copy of any certificate, purporting to be certified by the Minister or the Deputy Minister, is evidence of that certificate, and a copy, purporting to be so certified, of any entry made in respect of any certificate is evidence of the entry and of the truth of the matter stated therein.

Marginal note:Application of fees

140 All fees received under this Part shall be paid to the Receiver General and form part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

PART IIISeamen

Shipping Offices and Shipping Masters

Marginal note:Shipping offices

141 The Governor in Council may establish a shipping office at any port in Canada.

Marginal note:Shipping masters

• 142 (1) The Governor in Council may, subject to this Part, appoint for any shipping office a shipping master, who may with the approval of the Minister appoint any necessary deputies, clerks and servants, and shall, subject to this Part, have complete control over and be responsible for every act done by those deputies, clerks and servants.

• Marginal note:Deputies

  (2) All acts done by or before those deputies have the same effect as if done by or before a shipping master.

Marginal note:Remuneration by fees

• 143 (1) Shipping masters shall be remunerated for their services under this Act pursuant to a scale of fees payable to them for defined services, and neither they nor their deputies, clerks or servants shall, directly or indirectly, charge, demand, collect or receive, even by agreement, from any person any higher fees or any other remuneration, whether for the defined services or for other services performed by them as shipping masters, and the Minister shall establish, and may amend or vary in any respect, the scale of fees.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) Every shipping master, deputy shipping master or clerk or servant in any shipping office who acts in contravention of this section is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars, and the Minister may dismiss him from office.

Marginal note:Appointment of shipping masters at ports designated

• 144 (1) The Governor in Council may designate ports in Canada at which shipping masters, deputy shipping masters and such clerks and servants as are necessary for the proper conduct of the shipping office may be appointed in the manner authorized by law, all of whom hold office during pleasure.

• Marginal note:Deputies

  (2) All acts done by or before deputy shipping masters have the same effect as if done by or before a shipping master.

• Marginal note:Fees

  (3) The Minister shall establish a scale of fees payable for the defined services performed by shipping masters, and the scale of fees may be amended or varied in any respect.

• Marginal note:Fees paid to Receiver General

  (4) All fees received under this Part by shipping masters appointed under this section shall be paid to the Receiver General and form part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

• Marginal note:Remuneration

  (5) A shipping master or deputy shipping master appointed under this section may be appointed to any other office under this Act and in such case, in addition to his salary as shipping master or deputy shipping master, shall be remunerated for his services in the other office in the manner provided under this Act for that office.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (6) Sections 142, 143, 145, 148, 149, 150 and 156 do not apply to shipping masters, deputy shipping masters, clerks or servants appointed under this section.

Marginal note:Ineligible persons

145 No person who sells any spirituous liquors and no tavern keeper or boarding-house keeper shall be appointed a shipping master or deputy shipping master.

Marginal note:Business of shipping office

• 146 (1) At any place in which no shipping office is established, the business of the shipping office shall be conducted at the custom-house.

• Marginal note:Deemed to be shipping office

  (2) In respect of any business described in subsection (1), that custom-house shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be a shipping office, and the chief officer of customs at that custom-house, if no other shipping master has been appointed, shall, for all purposes, be a shipping master, and shall be held to have been appointed as such within the meaning of this Part.

• Marginal note:Fees to be first charge

  (3) Any shipping master or the deputy, clerk or servant of any shipping master may refuse to proceed with any engagement or discharge of a seaman unless the fee payable thereon is first paid.

Marginal note:Control by Minister

147 All business transacted at any shipping office shall be under the control and supervision of the Minister.

Marginal note:Shipping master to give security

148 Every shipping master shall, before entering on his duties, give such security for the due performance thereof as the Minister requires.

Marginal note:Investigations and dismissals

149 Where, in any case, the Minister believes on reasonable grounds that any person appointed by any shipping master does not properly discharge his duties, he may cause an investigation to be made and may direct the dismissal or suspension of that person.

Marginal note:Oath of office of shipping master and subordinates

• 150 (1) Every shipping master, deputy, clerk and servant so appointed shall, before entering on his duties, take and subscribe before any person qualified to administer oaths, an oath in the following form:

  I, .........., do swear that I will faithfully perform the duties of shipping master (or deputy shipping master, or as the case may be) according to the true intent and meaning of Part III of the Canada Shipping Act, that I will not, either directly or indirectly, personally, or by means of any other person or persons on my behalf, receive any fee, reward or gratuity by reason of any function of my office as shipping master (or deputy shipping master, or as the case may be), except such as are authorized by the Minister and allowed to me under that Part, and that I will act without partiality, favour or affection, and to the best of my knowledge. So help me God.

• Marginal note:Forwarded to Minister

  (2) The oath shall be forwarded to the Minister by the shipping master immediately after it is taken.

Marginal note:Duties of shipping master

151 Every shipping master shall

• (a) afford facilities for engaging seamen, by keeping registers of the names of seamen who apply to him for engagement, and registers of all seamen shipped or discharged by him, which registers shall be open for public inspection;

• (b) superintend and facilitate the engagement and discharge of seamen in the manner hereinafter provided;

• (c) provide means for securing the presence on board at the proper times of men who are engaged, when requested to do so, the expense of that service to be defrayed by the master, owner or agent of the ship requiring the presence of men on board;

• (d) facilitate the making of apprenticeships to the sea service; and

• (e) perform such other duties relating to seamen, apprentices and merchant ships as are committed to him by this Act.

Marginal note:Who may engage or supply seamen in Canada

• 152 (1) No person shall engage or supply, or employ any other person to engage or supply, any seaman or apprentice to be entered on board any ship in Canada unless the person first mentioned is a shipping master, the deputy of a shipping master, the owner, master or mate of the ship or bona fide the servant and in the constant employment of that owner.

• Marginal note:Knowingly harbouring illegally engaged seamen

  (2) No person shall receive, or accept to be entered, on board any ship, or permit to remain on board any ship, any seaman or apprentice who, to the knowledge of that person, has been engaged or supplied in contravention of subsection (1) for the ship or has been engaged or supplied for any other ship.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (3) Any owner, part owner, master, person in charge of any ship, ship’s husband, consignee or other person who acts in contravention of this section is guilty of an offence and is, for each seaman or apprentice in respect of whom an offence is committed, and notwithstanding that several seamen or apprentices are included in the same contract, or are received or permitted to remain on board any ship at the same time, liable to a fine not exceeding forty dollars.

Marginal note:Illegal demand

• 153 (1) No person, other than a shipping master or the deputy of a shipping master, shall demand or receive, directly or indirectly, from any master of a ship, any seaman or apprentice to the sea service, any person seeking employment as a seaman or apprentice to the sea service or any person on behalf of any of those persons, any remuneration of any kind for procuring any seaman to serve on board any ship or for providing any seaman or apprentice with employment.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) Any person who acts in contravention of this section is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars and not less than twenty-five dollars.

Marginal note:Duty of shipping master in case of suspected deserter

154 Every shipping master and deputy shipping master shall, before engaging or supplying any seaman to be entered on board any ship, require that seaman to produce his certificate of discharge from his last ship, or other satisfactory proof that he was lawfully discharged from or lawfully quitted his last ship, and shall by all lawful means in his power prevent, in so far as he can, the effecting before him of the engagement of a seaman whom he has any reason to suspect of having deserted from his last ship.

Marginal note:Masters to pay fees

155 Every owner or master of a ship engaging or discharging any seaman in a shipping office, or before a shipping master or a deputy shipping master, shall pay to the shipping master or deputy shipping master the whole of the fees payable in respect of that engagement or discharge.

Marginal note:Returns to Minister

• 156 (1) Every shipping master shall make, sign and transmit to the Minister on, or as soon as possible after, the last day of March and the last day of September in each year a return of all the fees and moneys received by him under this Part during the half year ending on that day.

• Marginal note:Particulars in returns

  (2) The return shall show the number of seamen engaged and the number of seamen discharged during the same period.

Marginal note:Dispensing with shipping master’s superintendence

157 The Governor in Council may, from time to time, dispense with the transaction before a shipping master or in a shipping office of any matters required by this Part to be so transacted, and thereupon those matters, if otherwise duly transacted, are as valid as if transacted before a shipping master or in a shipping office.

Apprenticeship to the Sea Service

Marginal note:Apprenticeship

158 Every shipping master shall give to persons desirous of apprenticing boys to, or requiring apprentices for, the sea service such assistance as may be in his power.

Marginal note:Indenture

159 The apprenticeship of any boy to the sea service shall be by indenture between the apprentice and the master or owner of the ship requiring the apprentice.

Marginal note:Record of indentures

• 160 (1) Every person to whom an apprentice is bound shall, within seven days after the execution of the indenture, transmit the indenture and a copy thereof to the shipping master nearest to the residence of that person, and that shipping master shall keep the copy in his office, which shall be open to public inspection free of any charge, and shall endorse on the indenture that it has been so recorded and shall re-deliver the indenture to the master of the apprentice.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) Every person who fails to comply with any requirement of this section is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

Marginal note:Notice of assignment, etc.

• 161 (1) Whenever any indenture is assigned or cancelled, or whenever any apprentice dies or deserts, the master of the apprentice shall, within thirty days after the assignment, cancellation, death or desertion, if it happens within Canada, or, if it happens elsewhere, so soon afterwards as circumstances permit, notify the shipping master, who shall record the information.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) Every person who fails to comply with any requirement of this section is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

Marginal note:Production of indenture

• 162 (1) The master of every foreign-going or home-trade Canadian ship who, pursuant to this Act, makes an agreement with the crew in the presence of a shipping master, shall, before carrying any apprentice to sea from any place in Canada, cause that apprentice to appear before the shipping master before whom the crew is engaged, and shall produce to the shipping master the indenture by which the apprentice is bound and every assignment thereof.

• Marginal note:Entries

  (2) The name of the apprentice, with the date of the indenture and of the assignments, if any, and the names of the ports at which they have been registered, shall be entered on the agreement with the crew.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (3) If the master fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with any requirements of this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

Engagement of Seamen

Marginal note:Agreement with crew

• 163 (1) The master of every Canadian ship, other than home-trade ships, inland waters ships and minor waters ships of less than fifty register tons, shall enter into an agreement, in this Act called the “agreement with the crew”, in accordance with this Act, with every seaman whom he engages in Canada and carries as one of his crew.

• Marginal note:Carrying seamen without agreement

  (2) If the master of a ship in respect of which an agreement with the crew is required fails to enter into an agreement or carries any seaman from any port in Canada without entering into an agreement with him in accordance with this Act, the master in the case of a sea-going ship, and the master or owner in the case of any other ship, is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty dollars.

Marginal note:Form and contents outside of Canada

164 When agreements with seamen in respect of Canadian ships are first opened in any Commonwealth country outside of Canada, their form and contents shall be those prescribed by the law of that Commonwealth country and if opened elsewhere than within a Commonwealth country shall be those prescribed by the law of Canada.

Marginal note:Form of agreement

• 165 (1) An agreement with the crew shall be in a form approved by the Minister, shall be dated at the time of the first signature thereof and shall be signed by the master before a seaman signs it.

• Marginal note:Particulars

  (2) The agreement with the crew shall show the surname and other names of the seaman, his birthplace and age or date of birth, shall state clearly the respective rights and obligations of each of the parties and shall contain as terms thereof the following particulars:

  • (a) the name of the vessel or vessels on board which the seaman undertakes to serve;

  • (b) either the nature, and, as far as practicable, the duration of the intended voyage or engagement, or the maximum period of the voyage or engagement and the places or parts of the world, if any, to which the voyage or engagement is not to extend;

  • (c) the number and description of the crew, specifying how many are engaged as sailors;

  • (d) if possible the place and date at which each seaman is to be on board or to begin work;

  • (e) the capacity in which each seaman is to serve;

  • (f) the amount of wages that each seaman is to receive;

  • (g) a scale of the provisions that are to be furnished to each seaman;

  • (h) the time agreed on, if any, that is to expire after arrival before the seaman is discharged;

  • (i) any regulations respecting conduct on board, fines, short allowance of provisions or other lawful punishment for misconduct that have been approved by the Minister as proper regulations to be adopted and that the parties agree to adopt; and

  • (j) the particulars respecting the position of the deck line and the load lines specified in the ship’s Load Line Certificate.

• Marginal note:Optional terms

  (3) The agreement with the crew shall be so framed as to admit of such stipulations, to be adopted at the will of the master and seaman in each case, whether respecting the advance and allotment of wages or otherwise, as are not contrary to law or to the Seamen’s Articles Convention, and it shall state the place at, and the date on, which it was completed.

• Marginal note:Foreign agreements

  (4) If the master of a ship registered at a port outside Canada has an agreement with the crew made in due form according to the law of that port or of the port in which the ship’s crew was engaged, and engages single seamen in Canada, those seamen may sign the agreement, and it is not necessary for them to sign an agreement in the form approved by the Minister.

Marginal note:Agreements with crew of foreign-going ships

166 The following provisions have effect with respect to the agreements with the crew made in Canada in the case of foreign-going ships registered either within or outside Canada:

• (a) the agreement shall, subject to this Act with respect to substitutes, be signed by each seaman in the presence of a shipping master;

• (b) the shipping master shall give reasonable facilities to the seaman and his adviser, if any, to examine the agreement and shall cause the agreement to be read over and explained to each seaman, or otherwise ascertain that each seaman understands the agreement before he signs it, and shall attest each signature;

• (c) when the crew is first engaged, the agreement shall be signed in duplicate, and one part shall be retained by the shipping master and the other shall be delivered to the master, and shall contain a special place or form for the descriptions and signatures of substitutes or persons engaged subsequent to the first departure of the ship;

• (d) where a substitute is engaged in the place of a seaman who signed the agreement and whose services are within twenty-four hours of the ship’s putting to sea lost by death, desertion or other unforeseen cause, the engagement shall, when practicable, be made before a shipping master, and, when not practicable, the master shall, before the ship puts to sea, if practicable, and if not, as soon after as possible cause the agreement to be read over and explained to the substitute, and the substitute shall thereupon sign the agreement in the presence of a witness, and the witness shall attest the signature;

• (e) the agreements may be made for a voyage, or if the voyages of the ship average less than six months in duration may be made to extend over two or more voyages, and agreements made to extend over two or more voyages are in this Act referred to as running agreements;

• (f) running agreements shall not extend beyond the six month period of time next following the date of the making thereof, or the first arrival of the ship at its port of destination in Canada after the termination of that period, or the discharge of cargo consequent on that arrival;

• (g) on every return to a port in Canada before the final termination of a running agreement, the master shall make on the agreement an endorsement respecting the engagement or discharge of seamen, either that no engagements or discharges have been made or are intended to be made before the ship leaves port, or that all those made have been made as required by law, and if a master wilfully makes a false statement in any endorsement he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars;

• (h) the master shall deliver the running agreement as endorsed to the shipping master, and the shipping master shall, if the provisions of this Act relating to agreements have been complied with, sign the endorsement and return the agreement to the master; and

• (i) the duplicate running agreement retained by the shipping master on the first engagement of the crew shall be kept by the shipping master until the expiration of the agreement.

Marginal note:Agreements with crew of home-trade ships

167 The following provisions have effect with respect to the agreements with the crew made in Canada in the case of home-trade ships for which an agreement with the crew is required under this Act:

• (a) agreements may be made either for service in a particular ship or for a service in two or more ships belonging to the same owner, but in the latter case the names of the ships and the nature of the service shall be specified in the agreement;

• (b) crews or single seamen may, if the master thinks fit, be engaged before a shipping master in the same manner as they are required to be engaged for foreign-going ships, but if the engagement is not so made, the master shall, before the ship puts to sea, if practicable, and if not, as soon after as possible, cause the agreement to be read and explained to each seaman, and the seaman shall thereupon sign the agreement in the presence of a witness, and the witness shall attest the signature;

• (c) an agreement for service in two or more ships belonging to the same owner may be made by the owner instead of by the master and the provisions of this Act with respect to the making of the agreement apply accordingly;

• (d) in the case of a ship making short voyages, running agreements with the crew may be made to extend over two or more voyages or for a specified time, but no agreement shall extend beyond the six month period of time next following the date of the making thereof, the first arrival of the ship at its final port of destination in Canada after that period or the discharge of cargo consequent on that arrival, and the owner or his agent may enter into time agreements in forms sanctioned by the Minister with individual seamen to serve in any one or more ships belonging to that owner, which agreements need not be limited to six months, and a duplicate of every agreement shall be forwarded to the Minister within forty-eight hours after it has been entered into;

• (e) on every return to a port in Canada before the final termination of a running agreement, the master shall make on the agreement an endorsement respecting the engagement or discharge of seamen, either that no engagements or discharges have been made or are intended to be made before the ship leaves port, or that all those made have been made as required by law;

• (f) the master shall deliver the running agreement as endorsed to the shipping master, and the shipping master shall, if the provisions of this Act relating to agreements have been complied with, sign the endorsement and return the agreement to the master, and if a master wilfully makes a false statement in any endorsement he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars; and

• (g) the duplicate running agreement retained by the shipping master on the first engagement of the crew shall be kept by the shipping master until the expiration of the agreement.

Marginal note:Agreements with crew of inland waters ships

168 The following provisions have effect with respect to the agreement with the crew in the case of inland waters ships and minor waters ships for which an agreement with the crew is required under this Act:

• (a) agreements may be made either for service in a particular ship or for service in two or more ships belonging to the same owner, but in the latter case the names of the ships and the nature of the service shall be specified in the agreement;

• (b) crews or single seamen shall in the case of ships of over eighty tons register tonnage and may if the master thinks fit in the case of ships of lesser tonnage be engaged in the same manner as they are required to be engaged for home-trade ships;

• (c) an agreement for service in two or more ships belonging to the same owner may be made by the owner instead of by the master and the provisions of this Act with respect to the making of the agreement shall apply accordingly; and

• (d) in the case of a ship making short voyages, running agreements with the crew may be made to extend over two or more voyages or for a specified time, but no agreement shall extend beyond nine months from the date of the agreement, the first arrival of the ship at its port of destination after the termination of the agreement or the discharge of cargo consequent on that arrival, and the owner or his agent may enter into time agreements in forms sanctioned by the Minister with individual seamen to serve in any one or more ships belonging to that owner, which agreements need not be limited to nine months, and a duplicate of every agreement shall be forwarded to the Minister within forty-eight hours after it has been entered into.

Marginal note:Master to produce certificates

169 The master of every foreign-going ship, on signing the agreement with the crew, shall produce to the shipping master before whom the agreement is signed the certificates that the master and seamen on the ship are required by law to hold.

Certificate from Shipping Master

Marginal note:Certificate from shipping master

170 A shipping master shall, in the case of any ship, on all the requirements of this Part being complied with to his satisfaction, give to the master of the ship a certificate to that effect or to the effect that the agreement with the crew is in his office partially signed, waiting the engagement of a portion of the crew, as the case may be, and shall specify in the certificate the class of ship to which the ship belongs, whether it is a steamship or sailing ship, the ship’s gross and register tonnage and particulars of its employment.

Marginal note:No clearance without certificate

171 No officer of customs shall clear any foreign-going ship until the shipping master’s certificate is produced to him.

Marginal note:Changes in crew to be reported

• 172 (1) The master of every foreign-going or home-trade ship whose crew has been engaged before a shipping master shall, before finally leaving Canada, sign and send to the nearest shipping master a full and accurate statement, in a form approved by the Minister, of every change that takes place in his crew before finally leaving Canada, and that statement is admissible in evidence in the manner provided by this Act.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) If the master fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

Marginal note:Certificate with respect to agreement with crew of foreign-going ship

• 173 (1) In the case of a foreign-going ship, on the due execution of an agreement with the crew in accordance with this Act, and, where the agreement is a running agreement, on compliance by the master, before the second and every subsequent voyage made after the first commencement of the agreement, with the provisions of this Act respecting that agreement, a shipping master shall grant the master of the ship a certificate to that effect.

• Marginal note:To be produced

  (2) The master of every foreign-going ship shall, before proceeding to sea, produce to the officer of customs the certificate referred to in subsection (1), and any such ship may be detained until the certificate is produced.

• Marginal note:Delivery to shipping master

  (3) The master of every foreign-going ship shall, within forty-eight hours after the ship’s arrival at its final port of destination in Canada or on the discharge of its crew, whichever first happens, deliver his agreement with the crew to the shipping master at that port, who shall give the master a certificate of that delivery, and an officer of customs shall not clear the ship inward until the certificate of delivery is produced.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (4) If the master fails without reasonable cause to deliver the agreement with the crew in accordance with subsection (3), he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

Marginal note:Agreement of home-trade ship delivered

• 174 (1) The master or owner of a home-trade ship of fifty tons register tonnage or more shall, within twenty-one days after the termination of every agreement with the crew made for the ship, deliver or transmit the agreement to a shipping master in Canada.

• Marginal note:Certificate

  (2) The shipping master on receiving the agreement shall give the master or owner of the ship a certificate of that delivery, and the ship shall be detained unless the certificate is produced to the proper officer of customs.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (3) If the master or owner fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

Marginal note:Master to deliver agreement

• 175 (1) The master or owner of every inland waters ship or minor waters ship of or over fifty tons register tonnage shall within twenty-one days after the termination of every agreement with the crew deliver the agreement to the nearest shipping master and the shipping master shall give the master a certificate of that delivery.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) If the master or owner fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

Marginal note:Copy for crew

• 176 (1) The master shall at the commencement of every foreign voyage or engagement cause a legible copy of the agreement with the crew, omitting the signatures, to be posted up in some part of the ship that is accessible to the crew.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) If the master fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

Marginal note:Alterations in agreements with crew

• 177 (1) Every erasure, interlineation or alteration in any agreement with the crew, except additions made for the purpose of shipping substitutes or persons engaged after the first departure of the ship, is wholly inoperative, unless proved to have been made with the consent of all the persons interested in the erasure, interlineation or alteration by the written attestation, if in a Commonwealth country, of a shipping master, justice of the peace, officer of customs or other public functionary, or elsewhere outside Canada, of a consular officer, or where there is no consular officer, of two respectable Canadian merchants.

• Marginal note:Forgery, etc., in respect of agreements with crew

  (2) Every person who fraudulently alters, makes any false entry in, or delivers a false copy of any agreement with the crew is guilty of an indictable offence, and if any person assists in committing or procures to be committed any such offence, he is likewise guilty of an indictable offence.

Marginal note:Seaman not bound to produce agreement

178 In any legal or other proceeding, a seaman may bring forward evidence to prove the contents of any agreement with the crew or otherwise to support his case, without producing or giving notice to produce the agreement or any copy thereof.

Marginal note:Engagement of seamen outside Canada

• 179 (1) With respect to the engagement of seamen outside Canada, where the master of a Canadian ship engages a seaman in a Commonwealth country or at a port in which there is a consular officer, the provisions of this Act respecting agreements with the crew made in Canada apply subject to the following modifications:

  • (a) in any Commonwealth country, the master shall engage the seaman before some officer being either a superintendent or, if there is no superintendent, an officer of customs;

  • (b) at any port having a consular officer, the master shall, before carrying the seaman to sea, procure the sanction of the consular officer, and shall, if not contrary to the law of the port, engage the seaman before that officer; and

  • (c) the master shall request the officer to endorse on the agreement an attestation to the effect that the agreement has been signed in his presence and otherwise made as required by this Act, and also, if the officer is a consular officer, that it has his sanction, and if the attestation is not made the burden of proving that the engagement was made as required by this Act lies on the master.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) If a master fails to comply with this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

Discharge of Seamen

Marginal note:Discharges before shipping master

• 180 (1) When a seaman serving in a foreign-going ship, or in a home-trade ship of or over fifty tons register tonnage, whether registered within or outside Canada, is on the termination of his engagement discharged in Canada, he shall, whether the agreement with the crew is an agreement for the voyage or a running agreement, be discharged in the presence of a shipping master.

• Marginal note:Home-trade ships

  (2) If the master or owner of a home-trade ship of less than fifty tons register tonnage or an inland waters or minor waters ship so desires, the seamen of that ship may be discharged in the same manner as seamen discharged from a foreign-going ship.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (3) If the master or owner of a ship acts in contravention of this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

Marginal note:Certificate of discharge

• 181 (1) The master shall sign and give to a seaman discharged from his ship, either on his discharge or on payment of his wages, a certificate of his discharge in a continuous discharge book in a form approved by the Minister, or any form approved by the proper authority in that Commonwealth country in which the ship is registered, specifying the period of his service and the time and place of his discharge, but not containing any statement respecting his wages or the quality of his work unless requested by the seaman.

• Marginal note:Certificates returned

  (2) The master shall, on the discharge of every seaman whose certificate has been delivered to and retained by him, return the certificate to the seaman.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (3) If the master fails to comply with subsection (1), he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars, and if he, without reasonable cause, fails to comply with subsection (2) he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

Marginal note:Report of seaman’s character

• 182 (1) Where a seaman is discharged before a shipping master, the master shall make and sign, in a form approved by the Minister, or in any form approved by the proper authority in that Commonwealth country in which the ship is registered, a report of the conduct, character, and qualifications of the seaman discharged, or may state in the form that he declines to give any opinion on those particulars, or on any of them, and the shipping master shall, if the seaman desires, give to him a copy of the report, in this Act referred to as the “report of character”.

• Marginal note:Returns to Minister

  (2) The shipping master shall transmit the reports to the Minister, or to such other person as the Minister may direct, to be recorded.

• Marginal note:False reports of forged certificates

  (3) Every person who

  • (a) makes a false report of character under this Act, knowing the report to be false,

  • (b) forges or fraudulently alters any certificate of discharge or report of character or copy of a report of character,

  • (c) assists in committing, or procures to be committed, any of the acts referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), or

  • (d) fraudulently uses any certificate of discharge or report of character or copy of a report of character that is forged or altered or does not belong to him,

  is guilty of an indictable offence.

Payment of Wages

Marginal note:Time within which wages must be paid

• 183 (1) Except in a case in which the seaman by the agreement is paid by a share of the profits of the adventure, the master or owner of every foreign-going Canadian ship shall pay to each seaman belonging to that ship his wages, if demanded, within three days after the delivery of the cargo, or on the seaman’s discharge, whichever happens first.

• Marginal note:Payment of wages

  (2) Where a seaman is discharged before a shipping master in Canada, he shall receive his wages through or in the presence of the shipping master, unless a competent court otherwise directs.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (3) If the master or owner of a sea-going ship or of a home-trade ship of over eighty tons register tonnage pays wages to a seaman where he is discharged before a shipping master otherwise than through or in the presence of the shipping master, unless a competent court otherwise directs, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

Marginal note:Master to deliver account of wages

• 184 (1) The master of every ship shall before discharging or paying off a seaman deliver, at the time and in the manner provided by this Act, a full and true account, in a form approved by the Minister, of the seaman’s wages and of all deductions to be made therefrom on any account whatever.

• Marginal note:To whom delivery made

  (2) The account referred to in subsection (1) shall be delivered

  • (a) where the seaman is not to be discharged before a shipping master, to the seaman himself not less than twenty-four hours before his discharge or the payment of his wages; and

  • (b) where the seaman is to be discharged before a shipping master, either to the seaman himself at or before the time of his leaving the ship, or to the shipping master not less than twenty-four hours before his discharge or the payment of his wages.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (3) If the master of a ship fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

Marginal note:Deductions

• 185 (1) A deduction from the wages of a seaman shall not be allowed unless it is included in the account delivered pursuant to section 184, or is in respect of a matter happening after the delivery.

• Marginal note:Record of deductions

  (2) The master shall during a voyage enter the various matters in respect of which the deductions are made, with the amounts of the respective deductions, as they occur, in a book to be kept for that purpose, and shall, if required, produce the book at the time of the payment of wages, and on the hearing before any competent authority of any complaint or question relating to that payment.

Marginal note:Disrating of seamen

• 186 (1) Where the master of a ship disrates a seaman, he shall forthwith enter or cause to be entered in the official log-book of the ship a statement of the disrating and furnish the seaman with a copy of the entry, and any reduction of wages consequent on the disrating shall not take effect until the entry has been made and the copy furnished.

• Marginal note:Reduction

  (2) Any reduction of wages consequent on the disrating of a seaman shall be deemed to be a deduction from wages within the meaning of sections 184 and 185.

Marginal note:Decision of questions by shipping master

• 187 (1) Where in the case of a foreign-going ship a question respecting wages is raised before a shipping master between the master or owner of the ship and a seaman or apprentice, and the amount in question does not exceed twenty-five dollars, the shipping master may, on the application of either party, adjudicate, and the decision of the shipping master in the matter is final, but if the shipping master is of opinion that the question is one that ought to be decided by a court of law, he may refuse to decide it.

• Marginal note:Hearing of any question by agreement

  (2) Where any question, of whatever nature and whatever the amount in dispute, between a master or owner and any of his crew is raised before a shipping master, and both parties agree in writing to submit the question to him, the shipping master shall hear and decide the question so submitted, and an award made by him on the submission is conclusive with respect to the rights of the parties, and a document purporting to be the submission or award is admissible as evidence thereof.

Marginal note:Shipping master may require ships’ papers

• 188 (1) In any proceeding under this Act before a shipping master relating to the wages, claims or discharge of a seaman, the shipping master may require the owner, his agent or the master or any mate or other member of the crew to produce any log-books, papers or other documents in his possession or power relating to a matter in question in the proceeding, and may require the attendance of and examine any of those persons, being then at or near the place, on the matter.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) Every person so required who fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with the requisition is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

Marginal note:Exchange on payment of seamen abroad

189 Where a seaman has agreed with the master of a Canadian ship for payment of his wages in Canadian dollars or any other money, any payment of, or on account of, his wages if made in any other currency than that stated in the agreement shall, notwithstanding anything in the agreement, be made at the rate of exchange for the money stated in the agreement, for the time being current at the place where the payment is made.

Advance and Allotment of Wages

Marginal note:Advance notes restricted

• 190 (1) Where an agreement with the crew is required to be made in a form approved by the Minister, the agreement may contain a stipulation for payment to or on behalf of the seaman, conditionally on his going to sea in pursuance of the agreement, of a sum not exceeding the amount of one month’s wages payable to the seaman under the agreement, and stipulations for the allotment of a seaman’s wages may be made in accordance with this Act.

• Marginal note:Other agreements void

  (2) Except as provided in subsection (1), an agreement by or on behalf of the employer of a seaman for the payment of money to or on behalf of the seaman conditionally on his going to sea from any port in Canada is void, and any money paid in satisfaction or in respect of that agreement shall not be deducted from the seaman’s wages, and a person does not have any right of action, suit or set-off against the seaman or his assignee in respect of any money so paid or purporting to have been so paid.

• Marginal note:Provision as to failure to join ship and desertion

  (3) Where a seaman who has been lawfully engaged and has received under his agreement an advance note, after negotiating his advance note, wilfully or through misconduct fails to join his ship or deserts therefrom before the note becomes payable, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars, or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty-one days, but nothing in this section takes away or limits any remedy by action or other procedure that any person would otherwise have in respect of the negotiation of the advance note, or that an owner or master would otherwise have for breach of contract.

• Marginal note:Provisions as to failure to join ship

  (4) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of a shipping master that a seaman lawfully engaged has wilfully or through misconduct failed to join his ship, the shipping master shall report the matter to the Minister, and the Minister may direct that any of the seaman’s certificates of discharge shall be withheld for such period as he may think fit, and, while a seaman’s certificate of discharge is so withheld, the Minister, and any other person having the custody of the necessary documents, may, notwithstanding anything in this Act, refuse to furnish copies of any of his certificates of discharge or certified extracts of any particulars of service or character.

Marginal note:Allotment of wages

• 191 (1) Any stipulation made by a seaman at the commencement of a voyage for the allotment of any part of his wages during his absence shall be inserted in the agreement with the crew, and shall state the amounts and times of the payments to be made.

• Marginal note:Allotment notes

  (2) Where the agreement with the crew is required to be made in a form approved by the Minister, the seaman may require that a stipulation be inserted in the agreement for the allotment by means of an allotment note, of any part, not exceeding one-half, of the seaman’s wages in favour either of a near relative or of a bank.

• Marginal note:Form

  (3) Allotment notes shall be in a form approved by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (4) For the purposes of the provisions of this Act with respect to allotment notes,

  bank

  banque

  bank means a bank or an authorized foreign bank within the meaning of section 2 of the Bank Act; (banque)

  near relative

  proche parent

  near relative means one of the following persons, namely, the spouse, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, child, grandchild, brother or sister of the seaman; (proche parent)

  savings bank

  savings bank[Repealed, 1999, c. 28, s. 174]

• Marginal note:Obligation to offer allotment notes

  (5) Every shipping master or other officer before whom the seaman is engaged shall, after the seaman has signed the agreement with the crew, inquire of the seaman whether he requires a stipulation for the allotment of his wages by means of an allotment note, and, if the seaman requires such a stipulation, shall insert the stipulation in the agreement with the crew, and the stipulation shall be deemed to have been agreed to by the master.

• Marginal note:Time for payment of allotment note

  (6) A payment under an allotment note shall begin at the expiration of one month from the date of the agreement with the crew and shall be paid at the expiration of every subsequent month after the first month, and only in respect of wages earned before the date of payment.

Marginal note:Allotments through banks

• 192 (1) An allotment in favour of a bank shall be made in favour of the persons and carried into effect in the manner that may be prescribed by regulations of the Minister.

• Marginal note:Payment

  (2) The sum received by a bank in pursuance of an allotment may be paid out only on an application made, through a shipping master or the Minister, by the seaman or, in case of the seaman’s death, by some person to whom the seaman’s property may be paid under this Act.

Marginal note:Master to give facilities to seamen for remitting wages

• 193 (1) Where the balance of wages due to a seaman is more than fifty dollars, and a seaman expresses to the master of the ship a desire to have facilities afforded for remitting all or any part of the balance to a bank or to a near relative in whose favour an allotment note may be made, the master shall give to the seaman all reasonable facilities for so doing with respect to the portion of the balance that is in excess of fifty dollars, but is under no obligation to give those facilities while the ship is in port if the sum will become payable before the ship leaves port, or otherwise than conditionally on the seaman going to sea in the ship.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) If the master of a ship fails to comply with the provisions of this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

Marginal note:Right of suing on allotment notes

• 194 (1) The person in whose favour an allotment note under this Act is made may, unless the seaman is shown, in the manner specified in this Act, to have forfeited or ceased to be entitled to the wages out of which the allotment is to be paid, recover the sums allotted when they are payable, with costs, from the owner of the ship with respect to which the engagement was made, or from any agent of the owner who has authorized the allotment, in the same court and manner in which wages of seamen not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars may be recovered under this Act.

• (2) [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 31 (1st Supp.), s. 91]

• Marginal note:Proof

  (3) In any proceedings for recovery on an allotment note, it is sufficient for the claimant to prove that he is the person mentioned in the note, and that the note was given by the owner or by the master or some authorized agent, and the seaman shall be presumed to be duly earning his wages, unless the contrary is shown to the satisfaction of the court by

  • (a) the official statement of the change in the crew caused by his absence, made and signed by the master, as by this Act is required;

  • (b) a certified copy of some entry in the official log-book of the ship to the effect that he has left the ship;

  • (c) a credible letter from the master of the ship to the same effect; or

  • (d) such other evidence as the court in its absolute discretion considers sufficient to show satisfactorily that the seaman has ceased to be entitled to the wages out of which the allotment is to be paid.

• Marginal note:False statements in letter as to allotment

  (4) If a master wilfully makes a false statement in any credible letter intended for use in any proceeding on an allotment note for the recovery of a seaman’s wages, to the effect that a seaman has left his ship and has ceased to be entitled to the wages out of which any allotment is to be paid, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

Rights of Seamen in Respect of Wages

Marginal note:Right to wages, etc., when to begin

195 A seaman’s right to wages and provisions shall be taken to begin either at the time at which he commences work or at the time specified in the agreement for his commencement of work or presence on board, whichever happens first.

Marginal note:Right to recover wages and salvage not to be forfeited

• 196 (1) A seaman does not by any agreement forfeit his lien on the ship to which he belongs, nor is he deprived of any remedy for the recovery of his wages to which, in the absence of the agreement, he would be entitled, and does not by any agreement abandon his right to wages in case of the loss of the ship, or abandon any right that he may have or obtain in the nature of salvage, and every stipulation in any agreement inconsistent with any provision of this Act is void.

• Marginal note:Exception when employed on salvage service

  (2) Nothing in this section applies to a stipulation made by the seamen belonging to any ship that, according to the terms of the agreement, is to be employed on salvage service, with respect to the remuneration to be paid to them for salvage services to be rendered by that ship to any other ship.

Marginal note:Wages not to depend on freight

• 197 (1) The right of wages does not depend on the earning of freight, and every seaman and apprentice who would be entitled to demand and recover any wages, if the ship in which he has served had earned freight, is, subject to all other rules of law and conditions applicable to the case, entitled to demand and recover the wages, notwithstanding that freight has not been earned, but in all cases of wreck or loss of the ship, proof that the seaman has not exerted himself to the utmost to save the ship, cargo and stores bars his claim for wages.

• Marginal note:Payment of wages in case of death

  (2) Where a seaman or apprentice who would, but for death, be entitled by virtue of this section to demand and recover any wages dies before the wages are paid, they shall be paid and applied in the manner provided by this Act with respect to the wages of a seaman who dies during a voyage.

Marginal note:Wages when termination of service by reason of unfitness

• 198 (1) Where the service of any seaman belonging to any foreign-going or home-trade Canadian ship terminates before the date contemplated in the agreement, by reason of his being left on shore at any place abroad under a certificate of his unfitness or inability to proceed on the voyage granted as mentioned in Part IV, the seaman is entitled to wages for the time of service prior to that termination but not for any further period.

• Marginal note:By reason of loss or foundering

  (2) Where by reason of the loss or foundering of any ship on which a seaman is employed his service terminates before the date contemplated in the agreement, he is entitled in respect of each day on which he is in fact unemployed during a period of two months from the date of the termination of the service to receive wages at the rate to which he was entitled at that date.

• Marginal note:If unemployment not due to loss or foundering

  (3) A seaman is not entitled to receive wages under this section if the owner shows that the unemployment was not due to the loss or foundering of the ship and is not entitled to receive wages under this section in respect of any day if the owner shows that the seaman was able to obtain suitable employment on that day.

• Marginal note:Definition of “seaman”

  (4) In subsections (2) and (3), seaman includes every person employed or engaged in any capacity on board a ship.

Marginal note:No wages for refusal to work

199 A seaman or apprentice is not entitled to wages for any time during which he unlawfully refuses or neglects to work, when required, whether before or after the time fixed by the agreement for his commencement of that work, nor, unless the court hearing the case otherwise directs, for any period during which he is lawfully imprisoned for any offence committed by him.

Marginal note:Forfeiture if illness caused by default

200 Where a seaman is by reason of illness incapable of performing his duty and it is proved that the illness has been caused by his own wilful act or default, he is not entitled to wages for the time during which he is by reason of the illness incapable of performing his duty.

Marginal note:Costs of procuring conviction deducted

201 Whenever in any proceeding relating to seamen’s wages it is shown that a seaman or apprentice has in the course of the voyage been convicted of an offence by a competent tribunal, and rightfully punished for that offence by imprisonment or otherwise, the court hearing the case may direct any part of the wages due to the seaman, not exceeding fifteen dollars, to be applied in reimbursing any costs properly incurred by the master in procuring the conviction and punishment.

Marginal note:Compensation where improperly discharged

202 Where a seaman, having signed an agreement, is discharged otherwise than in accordance with the terms thereof before the commencement of the voyage, or before one month’s wages are earned, without fault on his part justifying that discharge, and without his consent, he is entitled to receive from the master or owner, in addition to any wages he may have earned, due compensation for the damage caused to him by the discharge, not exceeding one month’s wages, and may recover that compensation as if it were wages duly earned.

Marginal note:Attachment or sale of wages

• 203 (1) With respect to wages due or accruing to a seaman or apprentice, the following provisions apply:

  • (a) they are not subject to attachment or arrestment from any court, unless the attachment or arrestment is in respect of the garnishment or attachment of wages for the purpose of enforcing a support provision as defined in section 2 of the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act;

  • (b) an assignment or sale thereof made prior to the accruing thereof does not bind the person making the same;

  • (c) a power of attorney or authority for the receipt thereof is not irrevocable; and

  • (d) a payment of wages to the seaman or apprentice is valid in law, notwithstanding any previous sale or assignment of those wages, or any attachment, encumbrance or arrestment thereof.

• Marginal note:Allotment notes not affected

  (2) Nothing in this section affects the provisions of this Act with respect to allotment notes.

Marginal note:Wages payable on termination of service by consent

204 Whenever the service of any seaman belonging to a Canadian ship terminates, by the mutual consent of the seaman and the master of the ship, at any port within or outside Canada before the date contemplated in any agreement with the seaman or with the crew of the ship, the seaman is entitled to be paid off before he leaves the ship and his wages are payable up to the time when he leaves the ship.

Mode of Recovering Wages

Marginal note:Seaman may sue for wages in summary manner

• 205 (1) A seaman or apprentice or a person duly authorized on his behalf may, as soon as any wages due to him not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars become payable, sue for them, in a summary manner before any judge of the Court of Quebec or Superior Court of the Province of Quebec, any judge of the Superior Court of Justice in and for the Province of Ontario, any judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia or British Columbia, any judge of the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland, any judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta, any provincial court judge, or any two justices of the peace acting in or near the place at which his service has terminated, or at which he has been discharged, or at which any master or owner or other person on whom the claim is made is or resides, and the order made by the court in the matter is final.

• Marginal note:Summons for master or owner

  (2) The judge, provincial court judge or justices to whom a complaint on oath is made by a seaman or apprentice, or on his behalf, may summon the master or owner or other person to appear before him or them to answer the complaint.

Marginal note:Order for payment

• 206 (1) On appearance of the master or owner or other person on whom a claim is made, the judge, provincial court judge or justices may examine on oath the parties and their respective witnesses concerning the complaint and the amount of wages due, and may make such order for the payment of any wages found due as appears reasonable and just.

• Marginal note:Non-appearance of master or owner

  (2) Where the master, owner or other person does not appear, then, on due proof of the master or owner or other person having been duly summoned, the judge, provincial court judge or justices may examine on oath the complainant and his witnesses concerning the complaint and the amount of wages due, and may make such order for the payment of any wages found due as appears reasonable and just.

Marginal note:Warrant for distress

• 207 (1) Where an order made pursuant to section 206 is not obeyed within twenty-four hours after the making thereof, the judge, provincial court judge or justices may issue a warrant to levy the amount of the wages awarded by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the person on whom the order is made, together with all the charges and expenses incurred by the seaman or apprentice in the making and hearing of the complaint, and all costs, charges and expenses incurred in connection with the distress and levy, and the enforcement of the order.

• Marginal note:Surplus

  (2) Any surplus, after the amount of the wages awarded and all the costs, charges and expenses are deducted, shall be paid to the person on whom the order is made.

Marginal note:Levy on ship

• 208 (1) Where sufficient distress cannot be found, the judge, provincial court judge or justices may cause the amount of the wages and costs, charges and expenses to be levied on the ship in respect of which the wages were earned, or on the tackle and apparel thereof.

• Marginal note:Person may be committed

  (2) Where the ship is not within the jurisdiction of the judge, provincial court judge or justices, they may cause the person on whom the order for payment is made to be apprehended and committed to the common jail of the locality or, if there is no jail in the locality, to the jail that is nearest to the locality, for a term not exceeding three months and not less than one month.

Marginal note:Restrictions on suits for wages

• 209 (1) The Admiralty Court does not have jurisdiction to hear or determine any action, suit or proceeding instituted by or on behalf of any seaman or apprentice for the recovery of wages not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, except in the following cases:

  • (a) where the owner of the ship is insolvent within the meaning of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act;

  • (b) where the ship is under arrest or is sold by the authority of the Admiralty Court;

  • (c) where any judge, provincial court judge or justices, acting under the authority of this Act, refers the claim to the court; or

  • (d) where neither the owner nor the master is or resides within twenty miles of the place where the seaman or apprentice is discharged or put ashore.

• Marginal note:Limitation of jurisdiction

  (2) Subject to this Part, no other court in Canada has jurisdiction to hear or determine any action, suit or proceeding instituted by or on behalf of any seaman or apprentice for the recovery of wages in any amount.

Marginal note:No costs where suit brought unnecessarily

210 Where any suit for the recovery of a seaman’s wages is instituted against any ship or the master or owner thereof in the Admiralty Court, and it appears to the Court, in the course of the suit, that the plaintiff might have had as effectual a remedy for the recovery of his wages by complaint to a judge, provincial court judge or two justices of the peace under this Part, the judge shall certify to that effect, and thereupon no costs shall be awarded to the plaintiff.

Marginal note:Suits for wages abroad

• 211 (1) Where a seaman is engaged on a Canadian ship for a voyage or engagement that is to terminate in Canada, he is not entitled to sue in any court abroad for wages unless he is discharged with such sanction as is required by this Act and with the written consent of the master, or proves such ill-usage on the part or by authority of the master as to warrant reasonable apprehension of danger to his life if he were to remain on board.

• Marginal note:Compensation where master in default

  (2) Where a seaman on his return to Canada proves that the master or owner has been guilty of any conduct or default that but for this section would have entitled the seaman to sue for wages before the termination of the voyage or engagement, he is entitled to recover in addition to his wages such compensation not exceeding one hundred dollars as the court hearing the case thinks reasonable.

Marginal note:Master’s remedy for wages

• 212 (1) The master of a ship, in so far as the case permits, has the same rights, liens and remedies for the recovery of his wages as a seaman has under this Act or by any law or custom.

• Marginal note:Recovery of disbursements

  (2) The master of a ship, and every person lawfully acting as master of a ship by reason of the decease or incapacity from illness of the master of the ship, in so far as the case permits, has the same rights, liens and remedies for the recovery of disbursements or liabilities properly made or incurred by him on account of the ship as a master has for the recovery of his wages.

• Marginal note:Court to settle accounts

  (3) Where, in any proceeding in the Admiralty Court concerning the claim of a master in respect of wages or of the disbursements or liabilities described in subsection (2), any right of set-off or counterclaim is set up, the court may enter into and adjudicate on all questions, and settle all accounts then arising or outstanding and unsettled between the parties to the proceeding, and may direct payment of any balance found to be due.

• Marginal note:Damages for delay in paying master’s wages

  (4) In any action or other legal proceeding by the master of a ship for the recovery of any sum due to him on account of wages, the court may, if it appears to it that the payment of the sum due has been delayed otherwise than owing to the act or default of the master, or to any reasonable dispute respecting liability, or to any other cause not being the wrongful act or default of the person liable to make the payment, order that person to pay in addition to any sum due on account of wages, such sum as the court thinks just as damages in respect of the delay, without prejudice to any claim that may be made by the master on that account.

Power of Courts to Rescind Contracts

Marginal note:Power of courts to rescind contracts

213 Where a proceeding is instituted in or before any court in relation to any dispute between the owner or master of a Canadian ship and a seaman or apprentice, arising out of or incidental to their relation as such, or is instituted for the purpose of this section, the court if, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, it thinks it just to do so, may rescind any contract between the owner or master and the seaman or apprentice or any contract of apprenticeship, on such terms as the court thinks just, and this power is in addition to any other jurisdiction that the court may exercise independently of this section.

Property of Deceased Seamen

Marginal note:Property of deceased seamen

• 214 (1) Where a seaman or apprentice belonging to a British ship, whether a foreign-going or a home-trade ship, the voyage of which is to terminate in Canada, dies outside Canada during that voyage, the master of the ship shall take charge of any money or effects belonging to the seaman or apprentice that are on board the ship.

• Marginal note:Auction

  (2) The master may, if he thinks fit, cause any of the effects to be sold by auction at the mast or otherwise by public auction.

• Marginal note:Entries

  (3) The master shall enter in the official log-book the following particulars:

  • (a) a statement of the amount of the money and a description of the effects;

  • (b) in case of a sale, a description of each article sold and the sum received for each; and

  • (c) a statement of the sum due to the deceased for wages and of the amount of deductions, if any, to be made from the wages.

• Marginal note:Attestation

  (4) The entry shall be signed by the master and attested by a mate and some other member of the crew.

• Marginal note:Property

  (5) The money, effects, proceeds of sale of effects and balance of wages described in this section are in this Act referred to as the property of the seaman or apprentice.

Marginal note:Report of death to foreign officers

• 215 (1) Where a seaman or apprentice described in subsection 214(1) dies and the ship before coming to a port in Canada touches and remains for forty-eight hours at a port outside Canada, the master shall report the death to the consular officer at that port or, if the port is in a Commonwealth country, to the Superintendent of a Mercantile Marine Office or the chief officer of customs there, and shall give to the officer any information he requires as to the destination of the ship and probable length of the voyage.

• Marginal note:Property delivered

  (2) The officer to whom a report is made pursuant to subsection (1) may, if he thinks it expedient, require the property of the deceased to be delivered and paid to him, and shall thereupon give to the master a receipt thereof, and endorse under his hand on the agreement with the crew such particulars with respect thereto as the Minister requires.

• Marginal note:Receipt

  (3) The receipt shall be produced by the master to a shipping master within forty-eight hours after his arrival at his port of destination in Canada.

Marginal note:Delivery to shipping master in Canada

216 Where a seaman or apprentice described in subsection 214(1) dies and the ship proceeds at once to a port in Canada without touching and remaining at a port outside Canada, or the consular officer, superintendent or chief officer of customs does not require the delivery and payment of the property of the deceased to him, the master shall, within forty-eight hours after his arrival at his port of destination in Canada, deliver and pay the property to the shipping master at that port.

Marginal note:Account

• 217 (1) Where a seaman or apprentice dies during the progress of the voyage or engagement, the master shall give to the superintendent or the chief officer of customs in a Commonwealth country, or to the consular officer abroad, or to the shipping master or officer to whom delivery and payment is made an account in such form as they respectively require of the property of the deceased.

• Marginal note:Deductions

  (2) A deduction claimed by the master in an account given under subsection 215(1) shall not be allowed unless verified, if an official log-book is required to be kept, by an entry in that book made and attested as required by this Act, and also by such other vouchers, if any, as may reasonably be required by the chief officer of customs or consular officer or by the shipping master or officer to whom the account is given.

• Marginal note:Certificate

  (3) A shipping master in Canada shall grant to a master, on due compliance with those provisions of this section and sections 215 and 216 that relate to acts to be done at the port of destination, a certificate to that effect, and an officer of customs shall not enter a sea-going ship inward without the production of that certificate.

Marginal note:Master accountable to Minister

• 218 (1) If the master of a ship fails to comply with the provisions of this Act with respect to taking charge of the property of a deceased seaman or apprentice, to making in the official log-book the proper entries relating thereto, to procuring the proper attestation of those entries as required by this Act or to the payment or delivery of the property, he is accountable for the property to the Minister, and shall pay and deliver the property accordingly, and in addition, the master is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding three times the value of the property not accounted for or, if its value is not ascertained, to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars.

• Marginal note:Owner liable

  (2) Where any property of a deceased seaman or apprentice is not duly paid, delivered or accounted for by the master, the owner of the ship shall pay, deliver and account for the property, and it is recoverable from him accordingly, and if he fails to account for and deliver or pay the property, he is in addition to his liability for the property guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding three times the value of the property not accounted for, delivered or paid over or, if its value is not ascertained, to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars.

• Marginal note:Recovery

  (3) The property may be recovered in the same court and in the same manner in which the wages of seamen are recoverable under this Act.

Marginal note:Property left abroad but not on board ship

219 Where any seaman or apprentice belonging to a Canadian ship the voyage of which is to terminate in Canada, or who has within six months preceding his death belonged to any such ship, dies at any place outside Canada leaving any money or effects not on board the ship to which he belonged at the time of his death or to which he last belonged before his death, the Superintendent of a Mercantile Marine Office or the chief officer of customs in a Commonwealth country, and in other cases the consular officer at or near the place, is authorized to claim and take charge of the money and effects, subject to performance of the provisions of this Part and with the rights thereby conferred, and the money and effects shall be deemed to be property of a deceased seaman or apprentice within the meaning of this Part.

Marginal note:Dealing with property by officers abroad

• 220 (1) A Superintendent of a Mercantile Marine Office or a chief officer of customs in a Commonwealth country or a consular officer may, as he thinks fit, sell any of the property of a deceased seaman or apprentice delivered to him or of which he takes charge under this Act, and the proceeds of the sale shall be deemed to form part of that property.

• Marginal note:Accounts

  (2) Every officer referred to in subsection (1) shall quarterly, or at such times as the Minister requires, remit the property in such manner, and shall render such accounts in respect thereof, as the Minister may require.

Marginal note:Recovery of wages of seamen lost with ship

• 221 (1) Where a seaman or apprentice is lost with the ship to which he belongs, the Minister may recover the wages due to him from the owner of the ship in the same court and in the same manner in which seamen’s wages are recoverable, and shall deal with those wages in the same manner as with the wages of other deceased seamen and apprentices under this Act.

• Marginal note:When ship deemed lost

  (2) Where in any proceeding for the recovery of the wages it is shown by some official return produced out of the proper custody, or by other evidence, that the ship has twelve months or more before the institution of the proceeding left a port of departure, the ship shall, unless it is shown that it has been heard of within twelve months after that departure, be deemed to have been lost with all hands on board, either immediately after the time the ship was last heard of, or at such later time as the court hearing the case may think probable.

• Marginal note:Proof of loss

  (3) Any duplicate agreement or list of the crew made, or statement of a change of the crew delivered, under this Act at the time of the last departure of the ship from Canada, or a certificate purporting to be a certificate from a consular or other public officer at any port outside Canada, stating that certain seamen and apprentices were shipped in the ship from that port, is, if produced out of the proper custody, in the absence of proof to the contrary, sufficient proof that the seamen and apprentices therein named as belonging to the ship were on board at the time of the loss.

Marginal note:Property of seamen dying in Canada

222 Where a seaman or apprentice dies in Canada and is at the time of his death entitled to claim from the master or owner of a ship in which he has served any effects or unpaid wages, the master or owner shall pay and deliver or account for that property to the shipping master at the port where the seaman or apprentice was discharged or was to have been discharged, or to the Minister or as the Minister directs.

Marginal note:Property forwarded to Canada

• 223 (1) Where any property of a deceased seaman or apprentice on a Canadian ship or the proceeds thereof comes into the hands of any consular officer, superintendent or officer of customs under section 215, 219 or 220, that officer shall forward such property to the Minister.

• Marginal note:Payment over of property of deceased seamen

  (2) Where any property of a deceased master, seaman or apprentice comes into the hands of the Minister under this Act, the Minister, after deducting any expenses incurred in respect of that master, seaman or apprentice, or of his property, shall pay and deliver the residue to the executor, administrator or other personal representative of the deceased or, if there is no personal representative of the deceased, the Minister shall dispose of the residue in accordance with the law of the province in which the deceased was last resident for determining the distribution or succession of personal property of deceased persons or in accordance with the order of such court as has jurisdiction to determine the distribution or succession of the property of the deceased.

• Marginal note:Where property not in excess of $500

  (3) Where the value of the property of a deceased master, seaman or apprentice does not exceed the sum of five hundred dollars, the Minister may, if the Minister thinks fit, pay or deliver the residue to any claimant who is proved to the Minister’s satisfaction to be the widow, widower or a child of the deceased or to be entitled to that property under the will, if any, of the deceased or under any law providing for the distribution or succession of personal property of deceased persons or otherwise.

• Marginal note:Discharge of Minister’s liability

  (4) On making payment or delivery of the residue under this section, the Minister is discharged from all further liability in respect of the residue so paid or delivered.

Marginal note:Forgery of documents to obtain property of deceased seaman

224 Every person who, for the purpose of obtaining, either for himself or for any other person, any property of any deceased seaman or apprentice,

• (a) forges or fraudulently alters, or assists in forging or fraudulently altering, or procures to be forged or fraudulently altered, any document purporting to show or assist in showing any right to that property,

• (b) makes use of any document that has been forged or fraudulently altered as described in paragraph (a),

• (c) gives or assists in giving, or procures to be given, any false evidence, knowing the evidence to be false,

• (d) makes or assists in making, or procures to be made, any false representation, knowing the representation to be false, or

• (e) assists in procuring any false evidence or representation to be given or made, knowing the evidence or representation to be false,

is guilty of an indictable offence.

Provisions, Health and Accommodation

Marginal note:Complaints as to provisions or water

• 225 (1) Where three or more of the crew of a Canadian ship consider that the provisions or water for the use of the crew is at any time of bad quality, unfit for use or deficient in quantity, they may complain about it to any of the following officers, namely, an officer in command of one of Her Majesty’s ships, a consular officer, a shipping master or a chief officer of customs, and the officer may either examine the provisions or water complained of or cause it to be examined.

• Marginal note:Report to master

  (2) Where the officer, or person making the examination, finds that the provisions or water is of bad quality and unfit for use, or deficient in quantity, he may signify it in writing to the master of the ship.

• Marginal note:Entry and report to Minister

  (3) The master of the ship shall enter a statement, which may be signed by the officer or person making the examination, of the result of the examination in the official log-book of the ship, and send a report thereof to the Minister, and that report is admissible in evidence in the manner provided by this Act.

• Marginal note:Forfeitures

  (4) If the master and the officer or person making the examination certify in that statement that there was no reasonable ground for the complaint, each of the complainants is liable to forfeit to the owner out of his wages a sum not exceeding one week’s wages.

Marginal note:Neglecting to provide proper provisions

226 When, in the case of a Canadian ship that is in a Canadian port, the officer or person who has made an examination of the provisions or water for the use of the crew, as provided by this Act, has signified in writing to the master of the ship that he has found the provisions or water to be of bad quality and unfit for use, or deficient in quantity, if the master of the ship does not thereupon provide other proper provisions or water in lieu of any signified to be of bad quality and unfit for use, does not procure the requisite quantity of any provisions or water signified to be deficient in quantity, or uses any provisions or water signified to be of bad quality and unfit for use, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

Marginal note:Allowance for short or bad provisions

• 227 (1) Where

  • (a) during a voyage the allowance of any of the provisions for which a seaman has by his agreement stipulated is reduced, except in accordance with any regulations for reduction by way of punishment contained in the agreement with the crew, or for any time during which the seaman wilfully and without sufficient cause refuses or neglects to perform his duty, or is lawfully under confinement for misconduct either on board or on shore, or

  • (b) it is shown that any of those provisions are or have during the voyage been bad in quality and unfit for use,

  the seaman shall receive, by way of compensation for that reduction or bad quality, according to the time of its continuance, the following sums to be paid to him in addition to, and to be recoverable as wages:

  • (c) if his allowance is reduced by not more than one-third of the quantity specified in the agreement, a sum not exceeding eight cents a day,

  • (d) if his allowance is reduced by more than one-third of that quantity, sixteen cents a day, or

  • (e) in respect of bad quality, a sum not exceeding twenty-four cents a day.

• Marginal note:Circumstances to be considered by the court

  (2) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the court before which the case is tried that any provisions, the allowance of which has been reduced, could not be procured or supplied in proper quantities, and that proper and equivalent substitutes were supplied in lieu thereof, the court shall take those circumstances into consideration, and shall modify or refuse compensation as the justice of the case requires.

Marginal note:Weights and measures on board

• 228 (1) The master of a Canadian ship shall keep on board proper weights and measures for determining the quantities of the several provisions and articles served, and shall allow the weights and measures to be used at the time of serving the provisions and articles in the presence of a witness whenever any dispute arises about the quantities.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) If the master of the ship fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

229 and 230 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 23]

Marginal note:Regulations respecting crew accommodation

• 231 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the crew accommodation to be provided in Canadian ships, and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, may make regulations

  • (a) respecting the space and equipment to be provided for the sleeping rooms, wash rooms, mess rooms and galleys;

  • (b) providing for the protection of the crew against injury, condensation, heat, cold and noise on a ship;

  • (c) prescribing the water, heating, lighting, ventilation and sanitary facilities to be supplied on a ship; and

  • (d) respecting the inspection, measuring and marking of crew accommodations on a ship and its certification for the purpose of ascertaining register tonnage and prescribing the fees to be charged therefor.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) Every owner of a Canadian ship that contravenes any regulation made under subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

International Labour Conventions

Marginal note:Regulations giving effect to Conventions

• 232 (1) The Governor in Council may, subject to this Act, make such regulations as may appear to him to be necessary to give effect to the provisions of any of the following Conventions, and such regulations shall conform in all respects to the requirements of those Conventions:

  • (a) Medical Examination (Seafarers) Convention, 1946;

  • (b) Certification of Able Seamen Convention, 1946;

  • (c) Food and Catering (Ships’ Crews) Convention, 1946;

  • (d) Certification of Ships’ Cooks Convention, 1946; and

  • (e) Seafarers Identity Documents Convention, 1958.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) The Governor in Council may prescribe a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months or both, to be imposed on summary conviction, as a punishment for contravention of a regulation made under subsection (1).

Facilities for Making Complaints

Marginal note:Facilities for making complaint

• 233 (1) Where a seaman or apprentice while on board ship states to the master of the ship his desire to make a complaint to a justice of the peace, consular officer or officer in command of one of Her Majesty’s ships or one of Her Majesty’s Canadian ships against the master or any of the crew, the master shall, as soon as the service of the ship will permit,

  • (a) if the ship is at a place where there is a justice or officer referred to in this subsection, after the statement, and

  • (b) if the ship is not at a place described in paragraph (a), after its first arrival at such a place,

  allow the complainant to go ashore or send him ashore in proper custody, or, in the case of complaint to a naval officer, to the ship of that officer, so that he may make his complaint.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) If the master of the ship fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

Protection of Seamen from Imposition

Marginal note:Assignment or sale of salvage invalid

234 Subject to this Act, an assignment or sale of salvage payable to a seaman or apprentice made prior to the accruing thereof does not bind the person making the assignment or sale, and a power of attorney or authority for the receipt of any salvage is not irrevocable.

235 and 236 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 25]

Marginal note:Right to board ship

• 237 (1) No person other than an owner, agent of an owner, consignee of the ship or cargo, a person in the employment of any of them, an officer or person in Her Majesty’s service or employment, or a harbour master, deputy harbour master, health officer, customs officer, pilot, shipping master or deputy shipping master shall, without the permission or against the orders of the master or person in charge of the ship, go on board any ship.

• Marginal note:Going on board without permission

  (2) Any person, other than a person excepted by subsection (1), who goes on board a ship without the permission or against the orders of the master or person in charge of the ship is guilty of an offence and liable,

  • (a) if unarmed at the time, to imprisonment for a term of not more than three years and not less than six months; and

  • (b) if armed at the time with, or carrying about his person, any pistol, gun or other firearm or offensive weapon, to imprisonment for any term of not more than five years and not less than two years.

• Marginal note:Arrest of offender

  (3) The master or person in charge of the ship may take any person so offending into custody and deliver him up forthwith to any constable or peace officer, to be taken before any judge of the Court of Quebec or Superior Court of the Province of Quebec, judge of the Superior Court of Justice in and for the Province of Ontario, judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia or British Columbia, judge of the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland, judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta, or provincial court judge, to be dealt with according to this Part.

Marginal note:Punishment when drunk, etc.

238 Every person is guilty of an offence and, without prejudice to the right of recovery from him of any amount payable by him as fare, liable to a fine not exceeding ten dollars, who

• (a) being drunk or disorderly, has been on that account refused admission to board a steamship by the owner or any person in his employment, and persists in attempting to board the steamship;

• (b) being drunk or disorderly on board a steamship, is requested by the owner or any person in his employment to leave the steamship at any place in Canada that is a reasonably convenient place to leave the steamship, and does not comply with that request;

• (c) after warning by the master or other officer of the steamship, molests or continues to molest any passenger;

• (d) after having been refused admission to board a steamship by the owner or any person in his employment on account of the steamship being full, and having had the amount of his fare, if he has paid it, returned or tendered to him, persists in attempting to board the steamship; or

• (e) without reasonable excuse, proof whereof lies on him, fails, when requested by the master or other officer of a steamship, either to pay his fare or exhibit a ticket or other receipt, if any, showing the payment of his fare, as is usually given to persons travelling by and paying their fare on steamships.

Marginal note:Injuring or obstructing machinery, crew, etc., of steamer

239 Every person on board a steamship who, without reasonable excuse, proof whereof lies on him, does or causes to be done, anything in such manner as to obstruct or injure any part of the machinery or tackle of the steamship, or to obstruct, impede or molest the crew, or any of them in the navigation or management of the steamship or otherwise in the execution of their duty on or about the steamship, is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

Marginal note:Master may detain offender and take before justice

• 240 (1) The master or other officer of any steamship, and all persons called by him to his assistance, may detain any offender under any of the provisions of sections 238 and 239, whose name and address are unknown to that master or officer, and may convey the offender with all convenient dispatch before any justice or justices of the peace, and any offender conveyed before any justice or justices under this section shall be dealt with as if arrested, and brought before them on his or their warrant under the provisions of the Criminal Code relating to summary convictions.

• Marginal note:Jurisdiction of justice of the peace

  (2) Any justice of the peace has jurisdiction under sections 238 and 239, either in the place where the offence was committed or, if committed while the steamship is under way, in the place where it next stops.

Provisions as to Discipline

Marginal note:Misconduct endangering life or ship

241 A master, seaman or apprentice belonging to a Canadian ship who, by wilful breach of duty, by neglect of duty or by reason of drunkenness,

• (a) does any act tending to the immediate loss, destruction or serious damage of the ship, or tending immediately to endanger the life or limb of a person belonging to or on board the ship, or

• (b) refuses or omits to do any lawful act proper and requisite to be done by him for preserving the ship from immediate loss, destruction or serious damage or for preserving any person belonging to or on board the ship from immediate danger to life or limb,

is guilty of an indictable offence.

Marginal note:Offences

• 242 (1) A seaman or apprentice belonging to a Canadian ship who deserts the ship is guilty of the offence of desertion and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) A seaman or apprentice belonging to a Canadian ship who

  • (a) neglects or refuses without reasonable cause to join the ship or to proceed to sea in the ship,

  • (b) is absent without leave at any time within twenty-four hours of the sailing of the ship from a port, either at the commencement or during the progress of a voyage, or

  • (c) is absent at any time without leave and without sufficient reason from the ship or from his duty, is, if the offence

  does not amount to desertion or is not treated as such by the master, guilty of the offence of absence without leave and liable to forfeit out of his wages a sum not exceeding two days pay and in addition, for every twenty-four hours of absence, either a sum not exceeding six days pay or any expenses properly incurred in hiring a substitute.

• Marginal note:Lawful strikes excepted

  (3) A seaman is not guilty of an offence under this section by reason only of his taking part in a lawful strike after his ship and cargo have been placed in security to the satisfaction of the harbour master or the master of the ship where no harbour master is available, at the terminal port in Canada of the voyage in which the ship is engaged.

243 to 246 [Repealed, 1992, c. 1, s. 146]

Marginal note:General offences against discipline

• 247 (1) Where a seaman or an apprentice commits any of the following offences in respect of a Canadian ship, in this Act referred to as “offences against discipline”, he is liable, on summary conviction, to be punished as follows:

  • (a) if he quits the ship without leave after the ship’s arrival at the port of delivery and before the ship is placed in security, he is liable to forfeit out of his wages a sum not exceeding one month’s pay;

  • (b) if he is guilty of wilful disobedience to any lawful command, he is liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one month and, at the discretion of the court, to forfeit out of his wages a sum not exceeding two days pay;

  • (c) if he is guilty of continued wilful disobedience to lawful commands or continued wilful neglect of duty, he is liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months and, at the discretion of the court, to forfeit for every twenty-four hours continuance of that disobedience or neglect, a sum not exceeding six days pay or any expenses properly incurred in hiring a substitute;

  • (d) if he assaults the master or any mate or certificated engineer of the ship, he is liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months;

  • (e) if he combines with any of the crew to disobey lawful commands to neglect duty or to impede the navigation of the ship or the progress of the voyage, he is liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months;

  • (f) if he wilfully damages the ship or steals or wilfully damages any of the ship’s stores or cargo, he is liable to forfeit out of his wages a sum equal to the loss thereby sustained, and also, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months;

  • (g) if he is convicted of any act of smuggling, whereby loss or damage is occasioned to the master or owner of the ship, he is liable to pay to that master or owner a sum sufficient to reimburse the loss or damage, and the whole or a proportionate part of his wages may be retained in satisfaction or on account of that liability, without prejudice to any further remedy; and

  • (h) if he aids or procures a person to stow away on the ship, for which that person is afterwards convicted, he is liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months and to pay to the master or owner of the ship a sum sufficient to reimburse any expenses occasioned to that master or owner in respect of that stowaway, and the whole or a proportionate part of his wages may be retained in satisfaction or on account of that liability, without prejudice to any further remedy.

• Marginal note:Discharge

  (2) Where a seaman is sentenced to a term of imprisonment under subsection (1), the court may discharge the seaman from his ship.

Marginal note:Summary remedies not to affect other remedies

248 Nothing in section 247, or in the sections relating to the offences of desertion or absence without leave, takes away or limits any remedy by action or by summary procedure before justices that an owner or master would but for those provisions have for any breach of contract in respect of the matters constituting an offence under those provisions, but an owner or master shall not be compensated more than once in respect of the same damage.

Marginal note:False statement respecting last ship or name

• 249 (1) A seaman who, on or before being engaged, wilfully and fraudulently makes a false statement of the name of his last ship or alleged last ship, or wilfully and fraudulently makes a false statement of his own name, is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

• Marginal note:Fine deducted

  (2) The fine imposed under subsection (1) may be deducted from any wages the seaman may earn by virtue of his engagement, and shall, subject to reimbursement of the loss and expenses, if any, occasioned by any desertion prior to the engagement, be paid and applied in the same manner as other fines under this Act.

Marginal note:Entry of offences in official log

• 250 (1) Where any offence, within the meaning of this Act, of desertion or absence without leave or against discipline is committed, or where any act of misconduct is committed for which the offender’s agreement imposes a fine and it is intended to enforce the fine,

  • (a) an entry of the offence or act shall be made in the official log-book of the ship, and signed by the master and by the mate or one of the crew;

  • (b) the offender, if on board the ship, shall before the next arrival of the ship at any port, or, if the ship is at the time in port, before its departure therefrom, either be furnished with a copy of the entry or have it read over distinctly and audibly to him, and may thereupon make such reply thereto as he thinks fit; and

  • (c) a statement of a copy of the entry having been so furnished, or of the entry having been so read over, and, in either case, the reply, if any, made by the offender, shall be entered in the official log-book and signed in the manner referred to in paragraph (a).

• Marginal note:Subsequent legal proceedings

  (2) In any subsequent legal proceeding, the entries required by this section shall, if practicable, be produced or proved, and in default of that production or proof, the court hearing the case may, in its discretion, refuse to receive evidence of the offence or act of misconduct.

Marginal note:Entries and certificate of desertion abroad

• 251 (1) In every case of desertion from a ship in any port out of Canada, the master shall produce the entry of the desertion in the official log-book of the ship to the person by this Act authorized to grant certificates for leaving seamen behind abroad, and request that person to make and certify a copy of the entry.

• Marginal note:Copy transmitted

  (2) The copy shall be forthwith transmitted by the master to the Minister, and is admissible in evidence in the manner provided by this Act.

Marginal note:Register of deserters

252 A shipping master shall keep at his or her office a list of the seamen who, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, have deserted or failed to join their ships after signing an agreement to proceed to sea in them, and shall on request show the list to a master of a ship, but the shipping master is not liable in respect of any entry made in good faith in the list.

Marginal note:Proof of desertion in proceedings for forfeiture of wages

• 253 (1) Whenever a question arises as to whether the wages of any seaman or apprentice are forfeited for desertion from a ship, it is sufficient for the person insisting on the forfeiture to show that the seaman or apprentice was duly engaged in or belonged to the ship, and either that he left the ship before the completion of the voyage or engagement, or, if the voyage was to terminate in Canada and the ship has not returned, that he is absent from the ship, and that an entry of his desertion has been duly made in the official log-book of the ship.

• Marginal note:Rebuttal

  (2) The desertion shall thereupon, in so far as it relates to any forfeiture of wages under this Part, be deemed to be proved, unless the seaman or apprentice can produce a proper certificate of discharge, or can otherwise show to the satisfaction of the court before which the case is heard that he had sufficient reasons for leaving his ship.

Marginal note:Application of forfeitures

• 254 (1) Where any wages or effects of a seaman or apprentice are under this Act forfeited for desertion from a ship, those effects may be converted into money, and those wages and effects, or the money arising from the conversion of the effects, shall be applied toward reimbursing the expenses caused to the master or owner of the ship by the deserter, and the remainder, if any, shall be paid to the Receiver General and form part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

• Marginal note:Recovery

  (2) For the purpose of the reimbursement described in subsection (1), the master or the owner or his agent may, if the wages are earned subsequent to the desertion, recover them in the same manner as the deserter could have recovered them if they had not been forfeited, and a court in any legal proceeding relating to those wages may order them to be paid accordingly.

• Marginal note:Other cases than desertion

  (3) Where wages are forfeited under this Act in any case other than for desertion, the forfeiture shall, in the absence of any specific provision to the contrary, be for the benefit of the master or owner by whom the wages are payable.

• Marginal note:Sale of effects

  (4) Where any effects of a seaman or apprentice who has deserted a ship and has been entered as a deserter in the official log-book of the ship come into the hands of a shipping master, the effects may be sold or otherwise disposed of as the shipping master may see fit, and, if sold, the proceeds of the sale after deducting the expenses thereof shall be applied as provided in subsection (1).

Marginal note:Questions of forfeiture decided in suits for wages

255 Any question concerning the forfeiture of or deductions from the wages of a seaman or apprentice may be determined in any proceeding lawfully instituted with respect to those wages, notwithstanding that the offence in respect of which the question arises, though by this Act made punishable by imprisonment as well as forfeiture, has not been made the subject of any criminal proceeding.

Marginal note:Amount of forfeiture out of wages ascertained

256 Where a seaman contracts for wages by the voyage, by the run or by the share, and not by the month or other stated period of time, the amount of forfeiture to be incurred under this Act shall be an amount bearing the same proportion to the whole wages or share, as a month or any other period hereinbefore mentioned in fixing the amount of the forfeiture, as the case may be, bears to the whole time spent in the voyage or run, and if the whole time spent in the voyage or run does not exceed the period for which the pay is to be forfeited, the forfeiture shall extend to the whole wages or share.

Marginal note:Stowaways

• 257 (1) A person who stows away on a Canadian ship is guilty of an offence and liable

  • (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both; or

  • (b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.

• Marginal note:Status on board ship of stowaways and seafaring persons carried under compulsion

  (2) Every seafaring person whom the master of a ship is, under the authority of this or any other Act, compelled to take on board and convey, and every person who stows away on a Canadian ship, shall, as long as he remains on board the ship, be deemed to belong to the ship, and be subject to the same laws and regulations for preserving discipline, and to the same fines and punishments for offences constituting or tending to a breach of discipline, as if he were a member of, and had signed the agreement with, the crew.

Marginal note:Deduction from wages

• 258 (1) Every fine imposed on a seaman for any act of misconduct for which his agreement imposes a fine shall be deducted as follows:

  • (a) if the offender is discharged in Canada, and the offence, and the entry in the log-book of the ship required by this Act in respect thereof, are proved to the satisfaction, in the case of a foreign-going ship, of the shipping master before whom the offender is discharged, and in the case of a home-trade ship, of the shipping master at the port at which the crew are discharged, the master or owner shall deduct the fine from the wages of the offender; and

  • (b) if the offender is discharged abroad, and the offence is proved to the satisfaction of the proper authority by whose sanction the offender is discharged, the fine shall be deducted as described in paragraph (a) and an entry made in the official log-book of the ship and signed by the authority to whose satisfaction the offence is proved.

• Marginal note:Paid to shipping master or proper authority

  (2) Every fine deducted under subsection (1) shall be paid to the shipping master if the offender is discharged in Canada, or, if the offender is discharged abroad, to the proper authority, who will remit any amounts received under this section at such times and in such manner, and render such accounts in respect thereof, as the Minister shall request.

• Marginal note:If master fails to pay fines

  (3) Every master or owner who fails without reasonable cause to pay any fine as required by this section is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding six times the amount of the fine not so paid.

• Marginal note:Misconduct not otherwise punished

  (4) An act of misconduct for which any fine has been inflicted and paid by or deducted from the wages of the seaman shall not be otherwise punished under this Act.

Enticing to Desert and Harbouring Deserters

Marginal note:Enticing to desert

• 259 (1) Every person who persuades or attempts to persuade a seaman or apprentice belonging to any ship unlawfully to neglect or refuse to join or proceed to sea in or to desert the ship, or otherwise to absent himself from his duty, is guilty of an offence and liable, for the first offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, and for any subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding nine months.

• Marginal note:Harbouring deserters

  (2) Every person who wilfully harbours or secretes a seaman or apprentice belonging to a ship who has wilfully neglected or refused to join or has deserted the ship, knowing or having reason to believe the seaman or apprentice to have done so, is guilty of an offence and liable, for every seaman or apprentice so harboured or secreted, to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, and for any subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months.

• (3) [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 29]

Marginal note:Search warrant if seaman concealed or secreted

260 Any justice of the peace at any port or place in Canada, on complaint before him on oath that any seaman or apprentice is concealed or secreted in any dwelling-house or outhouse, or on board any ship or elsewhere, shall grant a warrant, under his hand and seal, addressed to a constable or constables at that port or place, commanding him or them to make diligent and immediate search, in or about that dwelling-house or outhouse, or on board that ship, or in such other place or places as are specified in the warrant and to bring before him every seaman or apprentice found concealed, whether named in the warrant or not.

Official Logs

Marginal note:Official logs

• 261 (1) An official log shall be kept in every foreign-going ship and every home-trade ship of or over fifty tons register tonnage registered in Canada in the appropriate form for that ship approved by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Form

  (2) The Minister shall approve forms of official log-books, which may be different for different classes of ships, so that each such form shall contain proper spaces for the entries required by this Act.

• Marginal note:How kept

  (3) The official log of a ship may, at the discretion of the master or owner, be kept distinct from, or united with, the ordinary ship’s log, so that in all cases the spaces in the official log-book will be duly filled up.

• Marginal note:Entries made directly

  (4) An entry required by this Act in an official log-book shall be made as soon as possible after the occurrence to which it relates, and if not made on the same day as that occurrence shall be made and dated so as to show the date of the occurrence and of the entry respecting it, and if made in respect of an occurrence happening before the arrival of the ship at its final port of discharge shall not be made more than twenty-four hours after that arrival.

• Marginal note:Signing of entries

  (5) Every entry in the official log-book shall be signed by the master, and by the mate or some other member of the crew, and also,

  • (a) if it is an entry of illness, injury or death, by the surgeon or medical practitioner on board, if any;

  • (b) if it is an entry of wages due to, or of the sale of the effects of, a seaman or apprentice who dies, by the mate and by some member of the crew besides the master; and

  • (c) if it is an entry of wages due to a seaman who enters Her Majesty’s naval service, by the seaman, or by the officer authorized to receive the seaman into that service.

• Marginal note:As evidence

  (6) Every entry made in an official log-book in the manner provided by this Act is admissible in evidence.

Marginal note:Entries in official log

262 The master of a ship for which an official log is required shall enter or cause to be entered in the official log-book the following matters:

• (a) every conviction by a legal tribunal of a member of the crew and the punishment inflicted;

• (b) every offence committed by a member of the crew for which it is intended to prosecute, to enforce a forfeiture or to exact a fine, together with such statement concerning the copy or reading over of that entry, and concerning the reply, if any, made to the charge, as required by this Act;

• (c) every offence for which punishment is inflicted on board and the punishment inflicted;

• (d) a statement of the conduct, character and qualifications of each member of the crew or a statement that he declines to give an opinion on those particulars;

• (e) every case of illness or injury happening to a member of the crew, with the nature thereof, and the medical treatment adopted, if any;

• (f) every birth of a child and death of a person happening on board the ship, and the particulars required by Schedule II;

• (g) every marriage taking place on board the ship with the name and ages of the parties;

• (h) the name of every seaman or apprentice who ceases to be a member of the crew, otherwise than by death, with the place, time, manner and cause thereof;

• (i) the wages due to any seaman who enters Her Majesty’s naval service during the voyage;

• (j) the wages due to any seaman or apprentice who dies during a voyage, and the gross amount of all deductions to be made therefrom;

• (k) the sale of the effects of any seaman or apprentice who dies during a voyage, including a statement of each article sold and the sum received for it;

• (l) every collision with any other ship and the circumstances under which the collision occurred;

• (m) the date and time of posting up in the ship of a notice containing particulars of the ship’s draught and freeboard; and

• (n) any other matter directed by this Act to be entered.

Marginal note:Additional entries

263 In addition to the entries in the official log-book required by section 262, the masters of all Canadian ships that are engaged in international voyages shall enter or cause to be entered in that book the following matters:

• (a) the positions of the deck line and load line;

• (b) a record of boat and fire drills and examination of life-saving appliances and fire-extinguishing equipment;

• (c) a record of practices of opening and closing watertight doors;

• (d) a record of the time of opening and closing watertight doors; and

• (e) a daily record of radio conditions and of the state of the ship’s radio equipment.

Marginal note:Delivery of official logs to shipping master

• 264 (1) The master of every foreign-going Canadian ship shall, within forty-eight hours after the ship’s arrival at its final port of destination in Canada or on the discharge of the crew, whichever first happens, deliver the ship’s official log-book of the voyage to the shipping master before whom the crew is discharged.

• Marginal note:Home-trade ships

  (2) The master or owner of every home-trade Canadian ship for which an official log is required to be kept shall, within twenty-one days after June 30 and December 31 in every year, transmit or deliver the official log-book for the preceding half year to a shipping master in Canada.

• Marginal note:Consequences and liabilities

  (3) If the master or owner of a ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section he is subject to the same consequences and liabilities to which he is subject for the non-delivery of the list of the crew required to be delivered under this Part.

Marginal note:Official log sent home in case of transfer

• 265 (1) Where, by reason of transfer of ownership or change of employment of a Canadian ship, the official log ceases to be required in respect of the ship or to be required at the same date, the master or owner of the ship shall, if the ship is then in Canada, within one month, and if it is elsewhere, within six months, after the cessation, deliver or transmit to the shipping master at the port to which the ship belonged the official log-book of the ship, if any, duly made out to the time of the cessation.

• Marginal note:In case of loss or abandonment of ship

  (2) Where a ship is lost or abandoned, the master or owner thereof shall, if practicable, and as soon as possible, deliver or transmit to the shipping master at the port to which the ship belonged the official log-book, if any, duly made out to the time of the loss or abandonment.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (3) If the master or owner of a ship fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

Marginal note:Log-book not kept

• 266 (1) Where an official log-book of a ship is not kept in the manner required by this Act, or if an entry directed by this Act to be made therein is not made at the time and in the manner directed by this Act, the master is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

• Marginal note:Deferred entries

  (2) Every person who makes, procures to be made or assists in making any entry in an official log-book in respect of any occurrence at a time prior to the arrival of the ship at its final port of discharge more than twenty-four hours after that arrival, is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars.

• Marginal note:Damaging log-book

  (3) Every person who wilfully destroys or mutilates or renders illegible any entry in an official log-book of a ship, or wilfully makes or procures to be made or assists in making a false or fraudulent entry in or omission from an official log-book, is guilty of an indictable offence.

Return of Lists of Crew

Marginal note:Lists of crew and particulars

267 The master

• (a) of a foreign-going British ship registered in any Commonwealth country whose crew is discharged in Canada, and

• (b) of a home-trade ship,

shall make out and sign a list, in this Act referred to as the “list of the crew”, in a form approved by the Minister and containing the following particulars:

• (c) the number and date of the ship’s register and its register tonnage,

• (d) the length and general nature of its voyage or employment,

• (e) the names, ages and places of birth of all the crew, including the master and apprentices, their ratings on board, their last ships or other employments and the dates and places of their joining the ship,

• (f) the names of any members of the crew who have ceased to belong to the ship, with the times, places, causes and circumstances thereof,

• (g) the names of any members of the crew who have been maimed or hurt, with the time, place, cause and circumstances thereof,

• (h) the wages due at the time of death to any members of the crew who have died,

• (i) the property belonging to any members of the crew who have died, with a statement of the manner in which it has been dealt with, and the money for which any part of it has been sold, and

• (j) any marriage that takes place on board, with the date thereof, and the names and ages of the parties.

Marginal note:Time of delivery of lists

• 268 (1) The list of the crew

  • (a) in the case of a foreign-going ship, shall be delivered by the master within forty-eight hours after the arrival of the ship at its final port of destination in Canada, or on the discharge of the crew, whichever first happens, to the shipping master before whom the crew is discharged, and

  • (b) in the case of a home-trade ship, shall be delivered or transmitted by the master or owner to a shipping master in Canada on or within twenty-one days after June 30 and December 31 in each year,

  and the shipping master shall give to the master or owner a certificate of that delivery or transmission, and the ship may be detained until the certificate is produced, and an officer of customs shall not clear inward any foreign-going ship until the certificate is produced.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) If the master in the case of a foreign-going ship, or the master or owner in the case of a home-trade ship, fails without reasonable cause to deliver or transmit the list of the crew as required by this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

Marginal note:Transfer of ownership or change of employment of ship

• 269 (1) Where by reason of the transfer of ownership or change of employment of a ship the list of the crew ceases to be required in respect of the ship, or to be required at the same date, the master or owner of the ship shall, if the ship is in Canada, within one month, and, if it is elsewhere, within six months, after that cessation deliver or transmit to the shipping master at the port to which the ship belonged the list of the crew, duly made up to the time of the cessation.

• Marginal note:Where ship lost or abandoned

  (2) Where a ship is lost or abandoned, the master or owner thereof shall, if practicable, and as soon as possible, deliver or transmit to the shipping master at the port to which the ship belonged the list of the crew, duly made up to the time of the loss or abandonment.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (3) If the master or owner of a ship fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

Marginal note:Delivery of ship’s documents by master

• 270 (1) Whenever a Canadian ship arrives at a port in a Commonwealth country or at a port elsewhere at which there is a consular officer, and remains there for forty-eight hours, the master shall, within forty-eight hours after the ship’s arrival, deliver to the chief officer of customs or to the consular officer, as the case may be, the agreement with the crew, and also all indentures and assignments of apprenticeships, or such of those documents as the ship carries.

• Marginal note:Duties of officer having custody of documents

  (2) The officer to whom the documents referred to in subsection (1) are delivered shall keep them during the ship’s stay in the port and on the application of the master or a person on his behalf shall return the documents to him within a reasonable time prior to the expected time of departure of the ship, with a certificate endorsed on the agreement with the crew indicating the times each of the documents was delivered to him and returned by him.

• Marginal note:Endorsement on agreement with crew

  (3) Where it appears to the officer to whom the documents referred to in subsection (1) are delivered that this Act has been contravened, the officer shall make an endorsement to that effect on the agreement with the crew and forthwith shall send to the Minister a copy of the endorsement with all the information in his possession relating to the alleged contravention.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (4) A master to whom this section applies who, without reasonable cause, fails to comply with this section is guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

• Marginal note:Burden of proof

  (5) In a prosecution under this section against a master, the burden of proof that this section has not been contravened is on the master.

• Marginal note:Where not applicable

  (6) This section does not apply to United States ports on the Great Lakes or St. Lawrence River.

Return of Births and Deaths

Marginal note:Return of births and deaths

• 271 (1) The master of every Canadian ship on its arrival at a port in Canada, or at such other time and place as the Governor in Council may by regulation or otherwise, with respect to any ship or class of ships, direct, shall deliver or transmit in such form as the Minister directs, a return of the facts recorded by him in respect of the birth of a child or the death of a person on board the ship, to the chief officer of customs if in Canada and to the Superintendent of a Mercantile Marine Office or chief officer of customs if in any other Commonwealth country and to a consular officer if elsewhere.

• Marginal note:Copies to Minister

  (2) The officers of customs, Superintendent of a Mercantile Marine Office or consular officer shall send a certified copy of the return relating to births and deaths on board a ship to the Minister who shall cause the information contained therein to be sent to the government of the province where the port of registry of the ship is located.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (3) If the master of any ship fails to comply with any requirement of this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

Delivery of Documents on Change of Master

Marginal note:Documents handed over on change of master

• 272 (1) Where, during the progress of a voyage, the master of any Canadian ship is removed or superseded, or, for any other reason, quits the ship and is succeeded in the command by some other person, he shall deliver to his successor the certificate of registry and the various documents that relate to the navigation of the ship and to the crew thereof and that are in his custody, and his successor shall immediately on assuming the command of the ship enter in the log-book of the ship a list of the documents so delivered to him.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) If a master fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

Employment of Children and Young Persons

Marginal note:Employment of children on board ship

• 273 (1) Subject to this section, no person under fifteen years of age shall be employed in any vessel.

• Marginal note:Application of section

  (2) This section does not apply to a vessel in which only members of one family are employed.

• Marginal note:Special purpose personnel

  (2.1) Subsection (1) does not apply to special purpose personnel on board a special purpose ship.

• Marginal note:Employment of young persons as trimmers or stokers

  (3) No person under eighteen years of age shall be employed or work as a trimmer or stoker in any vessel except

  • (a) in a school ship or training ship where the work is of a kind approved by the Minister, and is carried on subject to such supervision as the Minister may approve; or

  • (b) in a vessel that is mainly propelled otherwise than by means of steam.

• Marginal note:Special circumstances

  (4) Where in any port a trimmer or stoker is required for any vessel and no person of or over the age of eighteen years is available to fill the place, a person over the age of sixteen years may be employed as trimmer or stoker, but in any such case two persons over the age of sixteen years shall be employed to do the work that would otherwise have been performed by one person of or over the age of eighteen years.

• Marginal note:Summary of subsections (3) and (4)

  (5) There shall be included in every agreement with the crew a short summary of subsections (3) and (4).

• Marginal note:Medical examination

  (6) No person under eighteen years of age shall be employed in any capacity in any vessel unless there has been delivered to the master of the vessel a certificate granted by a duly qualified medical practitioner certifying that the person is fit to be employed in that capacity.

• Marginal note:In case of urgency

  (7) A shipping master or consular officer may on the ground of urgency authorize a person under eighteen years of age to be employed on board a vessel notwithstanding that a certificate granted under subsection (6) has not been delivered to the master of the vessel, but the person in whose case an authorization is given under this subsection shall not be employed beyond the first port at which the vessel calls after that person has embarked thereon, unless subsection (6) has been complied with.

• Marginal note:Duration of certificate

  (8) A certificate granted under subsection (6) remains in force for a period of twelve months from the date on which it is granted, and no longer, but if the period of twelve months expires at some time during the course of the voyage of the vessel in which the person under eighteen years of age is employed, the certificate remains in force until the end of the voyage.

• Marginal note:List of young persons under eighteen

  (9) There shall be included in every agreement with the crew of a sea-going Canadian ship entered into under this Act a list of the persons under eighteen years of age who are members of the crew, together with particulars of the dates of their birth, and, in the case of a ship in which there is no agreement with the crew the master of the ship shall, if persons under eighteen years of age are employed thereon, keep a register of those persons with particulars of the dates of their birth and of the dates on which they become or ceased to be members of the crew, and the register so kept shall at all times be open to inspection.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (10) Every person who contravenes this section is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both.

Leaving Port in Default

Marginal note:Infraction of Part

274 If the master of any ship attempts to take the ship from any port in Canada without previous compliance on his part with all the requirements of this Part, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars.

Conflict of Laws

Marginal note:Law of port of registry

275 Where in any matter relating to a ship or to a person belonging to a ship there appears to be a conflict of laws, if there is in this Part any provision on the subject that is hereby expressly made to extend to that ship, the case shall be governed by that provision, but if there is no such provision, the case shall be governed by the law of the port at which the ship is registered.

Records of Service

Marginal note:Records of service

276 Records of service of seamen shall be kept in the Department and the Minister may establish a scale of fees to be charged for copies of such records, which fees shall be paid to the Receiver General and form part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Custody of Documents

Marginal note:Custody of documents

277 All shipping masters and all officers of customs shall take charge of all documents that are delivered or transmitted to or retained by them in pursuance of this Act, and shall transmit them to the Minister who shall record and preserve them, and the documents are admissible in evidence and shall be open to the inspection of any person.

PART IVProvisions for Relief and Repatriation of Distressed Seamen and Seamen Left Behind Abroad

Marginal note:Regulations

278 The Governor in Council may make regulations to carry into effect any scheme proposed by the government of any part of the Commonwealth relating to

• (a) the relief and repatriation of seamen;

• (b) the payment of the expenses of medical attendance, maintenance, burial and repatriation in cases of injury or illness of seamen;

• (c) the dealing with effects of deceased seamen and with wages of seamen left behind by ships; and

• (d) the recovery of any expenses in connection with the matters described in paragraphs (a) to (c).

Marginal note:Wages and effects of seaman left behind

• 279 (1) Where a seaman belonging to any Canadian ship is left behind outside Canada, the master of the ship shall, subject to this section,

  • (a) as soon as may be, enter in the official log-book of the ship a statement of the effects left on board by the seaman and of the amount due to the seaman on account of wages at the time when he was left behind; and

  • (b) on the termination of the voyage during which the seaman was left behind, furnish to the proper officer, within forty-eight hours after the arrival of the ship at the port at which the voyage terminates, accounts in a form approved by the Minister, one, in this section referred to as the “delivery account”, of the effects and wages of the seaman, and the other, in this section referred to as the “reimbursement account”, of any expenses caused to the master or owner of the ship by the absence of the seaman in cases where the absence is due to desertion, neglect to join his ship or any other conduct constituting an offence under section 242, and the master shall, if required by the proper officer, furnish such vouchers as may be reasonably required to verify the accounts.

• Marginal note:Delivery of effects and amount of wages due

  (2) The master of the ship shall deliver to the proper officer, if he will receive them, the effects of the seaman as shown in the delivery account, and subject to any deductions allowed under this section, the amount due on account of wages as shown in that account, and the officer shall give to the master a receipt, in a form approved by the Minister, for any effects or amount so delivered.

• Marginal note:Deductions

  (3) The master of the ship is entitled to be reimbursed out of the wages or effects of the seaman any sums shown in the reimbursement account that appear to the proper officer or, in case of an appeal under this section, to a court of summary jurisdiction to be properly chargeable, and for that purpose the officer, or, if necessary, in the case of an appeal, the Minister, shall allow those sums to be deducted from the amount due on account of wages shown in the delivery account, and, in so far as that amount is not sufficient, to be repaid to the master out of the effects of the seaman.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (4) The proper officer, before allowing any sums to be deducted or repaid under subsection (3), may require such evidence as he thinks fit respecting the sums being properly chargeable to be given by the master of the ship either by statutory declaration or otherwise.

• Marginal note:Appeal

  (5) Where the master of the ship is aggrieved by the decision of the proper officer respecting the sums to be allowed as properly chargeable on his reimbursement account, and the amount in dispute exceeds fifty dollars, he may appeal from the decision of the proper officer to a court of summary jurisdiction.

• Marginal note:Delivery of effects where several seamen left behind

  (6) Where during the voyage of a ship two or more seamen have been left behind, the delivery and reimbursement accounts furnished with respect to each seaman may at the option of the master of the ship be dealt with, as between him and the proper officer, collectively instead of individually, and in that case the master of the ship is entitled to be reimbursed out of the total amount of the wages and effects of the seamen left behind the total of the amounts allowed under this section as properly chargeable on the reimbursement accounts, and shall be required to deliver to the proper officer on account of wages only the sum by which the total of the amounts shown on the delivery accounts to be due on account of wages exceeds the total of the amounts allowed as properly chargeable on the reimbursement accounts.

• Marginal note:Remission of effects and wages

  (7) The proper officer shall, subject to any repayment made under this section, remit the effects, and any amount received by him on account of wages under this section, at such time and in such manner as the Minister requires, and shall render such accounts in respect thereof as the Minister directs.

• Marginal note:Definition of “effects”

  (8) In this section, the expression effects includes the proceeds of any sale of the effects if those effects are sold under this section.

• Marginal note:Sale of effects

  (9) The effects of a seaman shall be sold by the proper officer in such manner as he thinks fit when they are delivered to him, unless the Minister directs to the contrary, and, if not so sold, shall be sold by the Minister as and when he thinks fit unless they are delivered to the seaman.

• Marginal note:When master not liable

  (10) The master of the ship is under no liability for any loss of effects or for any damage to the effects if he proves to the proper officer that the loss or damage occurred without his neglect or privity after the seaman left the ship.

• Marginal note:Exemption from liability

  (11) Subject to subsection (12), the Minister is not liable for anything done under this section.

• Marginal note:Minister to comply with court order

  (12) If, after the wages or effects of a seaman have been dealt with under this section, any legal proceedings are taken in respect of those wages or effects, or involving the forfeiture of those wages or effects, or of any sum out of the wages, by the seaman against the master or owner of the ship, or by the master or owner of the ship against the seaman, the Minister shall, if notice is given to him of the proceedings, and a reasonable opportunity afforded him of appearing, comply with any order of the court made with respect to the wages or effects, in so far as

  • (a) he can do so out of the wages and effects remitted to him, in respect of the voyage of the ship; and

  • (b) those wages and effects are not required for reimbursing any expenses incurred by or on behalf of the Crown, or incurred by the government of a foreign country and repaid to that government by or on behalf of the Crown, as expenses of a distressed seaman on behalf of the seaman.

• Marginal note:Appearance

  (13) The Minister is entitled to appear and be heard in any proceedings described in subsection (12) by any of his officers.

• Marginal note:Minister may meet claim

  (14) The Minister may, if and in so far as he thinks fit, meet any claim made by a seaman against the master or owner of the ship in respect of any wages or effects dealt with under this section, although legal proceedings are not actually taken in respect thereof, if he has given notice to the master or owner of the ship, and the master or owner has not given written notice of objection within ten days of the notice being given.

• Marginal note:When allotment note made

  (15) For the purpose of subsections (12) to (14), any legal proceedings taken or any claim made by a person in whose favour an allotment note has been made shall be treated as proceedings taken or a claim made by the seaman.

• Marginal note:Receipts of and payments of money

  (16) Any sums remitted under this section, or arising from the sale of effects under this section, shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and any sums payable by the Minister under this section shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament for that purpose.

• Marginal note:Punishment for master not complying

  (17) If the master of a ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section, he is, without prejudice to any other liability, guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, and, if he delivers a false account or makes a false statement or representation for the purposes of this section, he is guilty of an indictable offence.

• Marginal note:When section does not apply

  (18) This section does not apply in the case of an absent seaman,

  • (a) where the master of the ship satisfies the proper officer that none of the effects of the seaman have to his knowledge been left on board the ship, and that he has paid all wages due to the seaman;

  • (b) where the amount of wages earned by the seaman, after taking into account any deductions made in respect of allotments or advances for which provision is made by the agreement with the crew, appears from the agreement to be less than twenty-five dollars, and the master of the ship does not exercise his option to deal with the delivery and reimbursement accounts collectively;

  • (c) where the master of the ship satisfies the proper officer that the net amount due to the seaman on account of wages, after taking into account any deductions lawfully made in respect of allotments, advances or otherwise, is less than twenty dollars, and the master does not exercise his option to deal with the delivery and reimbursement accounts collectively; or

  • (d) where the question of the forfeiture of the wages and effects of the seaman has been dealt with in legal proceedings lawfully instituted before the termination of the voyage, or within forty-eight hours of the arrival of the ship at the port at which the voyage terminates.

Marginal note:Sanction required for discharge of seamen outside Canada

• 280 (1) The master of a Canadian ship shall not discharge a seaman at any place outside Canada, except at a port in the country in which he was shipped, unless he previously obtains, endorsed on the agreement with the crew, the sanction of the proper authority, but that sanction shall not be refused where the seaman is discharged on the termination of his service.

• Marginal note:Investigation

  (2) The authority to whom an application is made for sanction under this section may, and, if not a merchant, shall, examine into the grounds on which a seaman is to be discharged at a place outside Canada, and for that purpose may, if he thinks fit, administer oaths, and may grant or refuse the sanction as he thinks just, but that sanction shall not be unreasonably withheld.

• Marginal note:Punishment for master not complying

  (3) If the master of a ship fails to comply with this section, he is guilty of an indictable offence, and in any legal proceeding for the offence the onus lies on the master to prove that the sanction was obtained or could not be obtained or was unreasonably withheld.

Marginal note:Certificate of discharge abroad

281 Where the master of a Canadian ship discharges a seaman at any place outside Canada, he shall give that seaman a certificate of discharge in a form approved by the Minister and, in the case of any certificated officer whose certificate he has retained, shall return that certificate to him.

Marginal note:Repatriation on termination of service at foreign port

• 282 (1) Where the service of a seaman belonging to a Canadian ship terminates at a port outside Canada otherwise than by the consent of the seaman to be discharged during the currency of the agreement, the master of the ship shall, besides giving the seaman the certificate of discharge required under this Part and paying the wages to which the seaman is entitled, make adequate provision in accordance with this Act for his maintenance and for his return to a proper return port, and shall request the proper authority to endorse on the agreement with the crew of the ship that the seaman is leaving the particulars of any provision so made.

• Marginal note:Master not complying

  (2) If the master fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, the expenses of maintenance and of the journey to the proper return port,

  • (a) if defrayed by the seaman, are recoverable as wages due to him; and

  • (b) if defrayed by the proper authority or by any other person, unless the seaman has been guilty of barratry, are a charge on the ship to which the seaman belonged, and may also be recovered against the person who is the owner of the ship for the time being, or, where the ship has been lost, against the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the loss, or, where the ship has been transferred to a person not being a British subject, either against the owner for the time being or against the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the transfer, at the suit of the proper authority or other person defraying the expenses, or, where they have been allowed to the authority or person out of public money, as a debt to the Crown, either by ordinary process of law or in the court and in the manner in which wages may be recovered by seamen.

• (3) [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 31]

Marginal note:Discharge, etc., of seamen at a foreign port

• 283 (1) Where a Canadian ship is transferred or disposed of at any port outside Canada, any seaman belonging to that ship shall be discharged unless the seaman consents in writing in the presence of the proper authority to complete the voyage of the ship if continued.

• Marginal note:Application of this Part

  (2) Where a seaman is discharged pursuant to subsection (1), the provisions of this Part respecting the certificate of discharge, and the return of the seaman to a proper return port, apply as if the service of the seaman had terminated otherwise than by the consent of the seaman to be discharged during the currency of the agreement, and apply to foreign seamen whether they have been shipped at a port in Canada or not.

Marginal note:Expenses of medical attendance in case of injury

• 284 (1) Where the master of, or a seaman belonging to, a Canadian ship receives any hurt or injury in the service of the ship, or suffers from any illness, not being an illness due to his own wilful act or default or to his own misbehaviour, the expense of providing the necessary surgical and medical advice and attendance and medicine, the expenses of the maintenance of the master or seaman until he is cured, dies or is returned to a proper return port, and of his conveyance to the port, and in the case of death the expense, if any, of his burial, shall be defrayed by the owner of the ship, without any deduction on that account from his wages.

• Marginal note:In case of illness

  (2) Where the master or a seaman is on account of any illness temporarily removed from his ship for the purpose of preventing infection, or otherwise for the convenience of the ship, and subsequently returns to his duty, the expense of the removal and of providing the necessary advice, attendance and medicine, and of his maintenance while away from the ship, shall be defrayed in the manner described in subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Medicines on board ship

  (3) The expense of all medicines, surgical and medical advice, and attendance, given to a master or seaman while on board his ship shall be defrayed in the manner described in subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Other cases

  (4) In all other cases, any reasonable expenses duly incurred by the owner for any seaman in respect of illness, and also any reasonable expenses duly incurred by the owner in respect of the burial of any seaman who dies while on service, shall, if duly proved, be deducted from the wages of the seaman.

Marginal note:Medical expenses of foreign seamen

285 The owner of every ship that is not a Canadian ship is liable for the cost of all medical and surgical treatment and hospital care provided in Canada to a person employed by him on that ship.

Marginal note:Recovery of expenses from owner

• 286 (1) Where any of the expenses attendant on the illness, hurt or injury of a seaman that are to be paid under this Act by the master or owner are paid by any authority on behalf of the Crown, or if any other expenses in respect of the illness, hurt or injury of any seaman whose wages are not accounted for under this Act to that authority are so paid, those expenses shall be repaid to the authority by the master or owner of the ship.

• Marginal note:Recovery of amount where not paid

  (2) Where the expenses described in subsection (1) are not repaid, the amount thereof is, with costs, a charge on the ship, and is recoverable as a debt to the Crown, either by ordinary process of law or in the court and in the manner in which wages may be recovered by seaman from the master or owner of the ship for the time being or, where the ship has been lost, from the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the loss, or, where the ship has been transferred to a person not being a British subject, either from the owner for the time being or from the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the transfer.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (3) In any proceeding for recovery of expenses under subsection (2), a certificate of the facts, signed by the authority referred to in subsection (1), together with such vouchers, if any, as the case requires, is sufficient proof that the expenses were duly paid by that authority.

Marginal note:Where seaman is left behind

• 287 (1) The master of a Canadian ship shall not leave a seaman behind at any place outside Canada, ashore or at sea, except where the seaman is discharged in accordance with this Act, unless the master previously obtains, endorsed on the agreement with the crew, the certificate of the proper authority stating the cause of the seaman being left behind, whether the cause is unfitness or inability to proceed to sea, desertion, disappearance or otherwise.

• Marginal note:Investigation

  (2) The authority to whom an application is made for a certificate under this section may examine into the grounds on which a seaman is to be left behind, and for that purpose may, if he thinks fit, administer oaths, and may grant or refuse the certificate as he thinks just, but the certificate shall not be unreasonably withheld.

• Marginal note:Punishment for master not complying

  (3) If the master of a ship fails to comply with this section, he is, without prejudice to his liability under any other provision of this Act, guilty of an offence, and in any legal proceeding for the offence the onus lies on the master to prove that the certificate was obtained or could not be obtained without unreasonable delay to the ship or was unreasonably withheld.

Marginal note:Account of wages in case where seaman left behind

• 288 (1) Where a master of a Canadian ship leaves a seaman behind on shore in any place outside Canada on the ground of his unfitness or inability to proceed to sea, he shall deliver to the person signing the required certificate of the proper authority a full and true account of the wages due to the seaman and, if that person is a consular officer, shall deliver the account in duplicate.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) If a master fails, without reasonable cause, to deliver the account described in subsection (1), he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars, and, if he knowingly delivers a false account, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, in addition in each case to the payment of the wages.

Marginal note:Payment of wages of seaman left behind

• 289 (1) The master shall pay the amount of wages due to a seaman left behind on the ground of his unfitness or inability to proceed to sea, if he is left in any Commonwealth country, to the seaman himself, and if he is left elsewhere, to the consular officer, if the consular officer will receive the payment.

• Marginal note:Duplicate account

  (2) Where payment is so made to a consular officer, that officer shall retain one duplicate of the account delivered to him and, if satisfied with the account, endorse on the other duplicate a receipt for the payment, and return it to the master, who shall deliver the duplicate within forty-eight hours of his return to his port of destination to the proper authority.

• Marginal note:Payments

  (3) The payment shall be made, whenever it is practicable, in money, and, when not so practicable, by bills drawn on the owner of the ship, but if payment is made by bill

  • (a) the person signing the required certificate of the proper authority shall certify by endorsement on the bill that the bill is drawn for seamen’s wages, and shall also endorse on the agreement with the crew the amount for which the bill is drawn, and such further particulars as the Minister requires; and

  • (b) if the bill is drawn by the master, the owner of the ship is liable to pay the amount to the holder or endorsee thereof, and it is not necessary in any proceeding against the owner on the bill to prove that the master had authority to draw it.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (4) A bill purporting to be drawn and endorsed under this section is, if produced out of the custody of the Minister, or of any shipping master, admissible in evidence, and any endorsement on any such bill purporting to be made in pursuance of this section is also admissible as evidence of the facts stated in the endorsement.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (5) If a master fails, without reasonable cause, to make a payment of wages as provided by this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable, in addition to the payment of the wages, to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

Marginal note:Application of payments

290 Where the amount of wages due to a seaman left behind on the ground of his unfitness or inability to proceed to sea is paid to and accepted by a consular officer, that officer shall accept on condition that he deal with the sum paid to him in the following manner:

• (a) if the seaman subsequently obtains employment at or quits the port at which the payment has been made, he shall deduct out of the sum any expenses incurred by him in respect of the maintenance of the seaman under this Act, except such expenses as the owner or master is required by this Act to defray, and shall pay the remainder to the seaman and deliver to him an account of the sums so received and expended on his behalf;

• (b) if the seaman dies before his ship quits the port, he shall deal with the sum as part of the property of a deceased seaman; and

• (c) if the seaman is sent to a proper return port at the public expense under this Act, he shall account for the sum to the Minister, and the sum, after deducting any expenses duly incurred in respect of the seaman, except such expenses as the master or owner is required by this Act to defray, shall be dealt with as wages of the seaman.

Marginal note:Regulations

• 291 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations with respect to the relief, maintenance and return to a proper return port of shipwrecked or otherwise distressed Canadian seamen found at any place outside Canada, and may, by those regulations, in this Act referred to as the “distressed seamen regulations”, make such conditions as he thinks fit with regard to that relief, maintenance and return to a proper return port, and a seaman has no right to be relieved, maintained or returned to a proper return port, except in the cases and to the extent and on the conditions provided by those regulations.

• Marginal note:Payment for work during voyage

  (2) When a seaman is repatriated as member of a crew, he is entitled to remuneration for work done during the voyage.

Marginal note:Relief of distressed seamen

• 292 (1) Where any seamen, whether subjects of Her Majesty or not, who have been resident in Canada for at least twelve months before the commencement of the voyage or engagement on which they are at the time employed, are found in any place outside Canada, and have been shipwrecked from any ship or by reason of having been discharged or left behind from any ship in any place outside Canada, are in distress in that place, the proper authority may, in accordance with and on the conditions prescribed by the distressed seamen regulations,

  • (a) provide in accordance with this Act for the return of those seamen, who are in this Act included in the term “distressed seamen”, at the expense of the Government of Canada, to a proper return port;

  • (b) provide for their necessary clothing and maintenance until their departure for a proper return port;

  • (c) in case of death, provide for burial expenses; and

  • (d) in the case of shipwrecked seamen, provide for the repayment of any expenses incurred in their conveyance to port after their shipwreck, and their maintenance while being so conveyed.

• Marginal note:Distressed seamen in Canada

  (2) Where any seamen are found in any place in Canada as a result of being shipwrecked from a Canadian ship, the owner of the ship shall provide for their necessary clothing and maintenance in that place and shall pay the expenses of returning those seamen to the port where they were engaged.

Marginal note:Repayment of expenses to proper authorities

• 293 (1) Where any expenses, other than excepted expenses, are incurred by a proper authority on behalf of the Government of Canada pursuant to section 292, or are incurred by the government of a foreign country and are repaid to the foreign country by the Government of the United Kingdom, the Minister may pay to the proper authority or to the Government of the United Kingdom the amount of those expenses out of any moneys available for the purpose or out of any moneys voted by Parliament for that purpose.

• Marginal note:Charge on ship

  (2) Any or all moneys paid by the Minister pursuant to subsection (1), together with the wages, if any, due to the seaman, are a charge on the ship to which the distressed seaman belonged, and are a debt to the Crown from the master of the ship or from the owner of the ship for the time being, or, where the ship has been lost, from the person who was owner of the ship at the time of the loss, or, where the ship has been transferred to a person who is not a British subject, either from the owner for the time being or from the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the transfer, and, if the ship is a foreign ship, from the person, whether principal or agent, who engaged the seaman for service in the ship.

• Marginal note:How recoverable

  (3) The debt, in addition to any fines that may have been incurred, may be recovered by the Minister, on behalf of the Crown, either by ordinary process of law or in the court in the manner in which wages may be recovered by seamen.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (4) In any proceeding for recovery under this section, the production of the account, if any, of the expenses furnished in accordance with this Act or the distressed seamen regulations, and proof of payment of the expenses by or on behalf of the Minister, is evidence that the expenses were incurred or repaid under this Act by or on behalf of the Crown.

• Marginal note:Excepted expenses

  (5) For the purpose of this section, excepted expenses are expenses incurred in cases where the certificate of the proper authority obtained on leaving a seaman behind states, or the Minister is otherwise satisfied, that the cause of the seaman being left behind is desertion or disappearance or imprisonment for misconduct, or discharge from his ship by a naval court on the ground of misconduct, and expenses incurred on account of the return to a proper return port of a distressed seaman who has been discharged at the port at which he was shipped, or at some neighbouring port.

Marginal note:Forcing ashore

294 A person belonging to a Canadian ship shall not wrongfully force a seaman on shore and leave him behind or otherwise cause a seaman to be wrongfully left behind at any place, either on shore or at sea, in or out of any Commonwealth country, and if he does so he is guilty of an indictable offence.

Marginal note:Deduction from wages of fines

• 295 (1) Every fine imposed on a seaman of a Canadian ship for any act of misconduct for which his agreement imposes a fine shall be deducted as follows:

  • (a) if the offender is discharged in Canada and the offence, and the entry in the log-book required by this Act thereof, are proved to the satisfaction, in the case of a sea-going ship of the shipping master before whom the offender is discharged, and in the case of a home-trade ship of the shipping master at the port at which the crew are discharged, the master or owner shall deduct the fine from the wages of the offender; and

  • (b) if the offender is discharged abroad and the offence is proved to the satisfaction of the proper authority by whose sanction he is discharged, the fine shall be deducted in accordance with paragraph (a), and an entry made in the official log-book of the ship and signed by the authority to whose satisfaction the offence is proved.

• Marginal note:Disposition of fines

  (2) Every fine deducted pursuant to subsection (1) shall be paid

  • (a) if the offender is discharged in Canada, to the shipping master; and

  • (b) if the offender is discharged at any place outside Canada, to the proper authority.

• Marginal note:Amounts to be remitted

  (3) A proper authority shall remit any amounts received by it under this section at such times and in such manner, and render such accounts in respect thereof, as the Minister requires.

• Marginal note:Punishment for not paying fine

  (4) If a master or owner fails without reasonable cause to pay any fine as required by this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding six times the amount of the fine not so paid.

• Marginal note:Offence not otherwise punished

  (5) An act of misconduct for which any fine has been inflicted and paid by, or deducted from the wages of, a seaman shall not be otherwise punished under this Act.

Marginal note:Proper return port

296 For the purpose of this Part, either the port at which a seaman was shipped or a port in the country to which he belongs, or some other port agreed to by the seaman, in the case of a discharged seaman, at the time of his discharge, shall be deemed to be a proper return port, but in the case of a seaman shipped in Canada the return port shall be in the same province in which he was shipped unless otherwise agreed to by him.

Marginal note:Proper port

• 297 (1) A seaman may be sent to a proper return port by any reasonable route.

• Marginal note:Provision for return

  (2) Provision shall be made for the return of a seaman to a proper return port if the whole of the route is by sea, or if any part of the route is by sea, by placing the seaman on board a British ship that is in need of men to make up its complement, or, if that is not practicable, by providing the seaman with a passage in any ship, British or foreign, or with the money for his passage, and, if any part of the route is by land, by paying the expenses of his journey and of his maintenance during the journey, or providing him with means to pay those expenses.

• Marginal note:Master may deposit for expenses of return

  (3) Where the master of a ship is required under this Part to provide for the return of a discharged seaman to a proper return port, the master may, instead of providing the seaman’s passage, or the expenses of his journey, or of providing the seaman with means to pay his passage or those expenses, deposit with the proper authority such sum as that authority considers sufficient to defray the expenses of the return of the seaman to a proper return port.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (4) The Minister may, by the distressed seamen regulations, make such provision as may be necessary for enabling the proper authority, and in the case of expenses required to be incurred in Canada any officer named for the purpose by the Minister, to defray on behalf of the authority originally making arrangements for the return of a distressed seaman to a proper return port any expenses on account of that seaman that the authority originally acting in respect of him could defray, and any expenses so incurred shall for the purposes of this Part relating to distressed seamen be deemed to be expenses incurred on behalf of the distressed seaman.

Marginal note:Decision of questions as to return by proper authority

• 298 (1) When any question arises as to what return port a seaman is to be sent to in any case, or as to the route by which he should be sent, the question shall be decided by the proper authority.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) In deciding any question under this section, the proper authority shall have regard both to the convenience of the seaman and to the expense involved, and also, where it is the case, to the fact that a British ship that is in need of men to make up its complement is about to proceed to a proper return port or to a port in the vicinity thereof.

• Marginal note:Owner’s obligation

  (3) Nothing in this section relieves the owner from the obligation and expense of returning the seaman to his proper return port.

Marginal note:Taking distressed seamen

• 299 (1) Where a distressed seaman is, for the purpose of his return to a proper return port, placed on board a Canadian ship, the authority by whom the seaman is so placed shall endorse on the agreement with the crew of the ship the name of the seaman so placed on board, together with any particulars directed to be endorsed by the distressed seamen regulations.

• Marginal note:Master to receive seamen

  (2) The master of every Canadian ship shall receive on board his ship, and afford a passage and maintenance to, all distressed seamen whom he is required under this Act to take on board his ship, not exceeding one for every fifty tons register tonnage, and shall during the passage provide each distressed seaman with a proper berth or sleeping place, effectually protected against sea and weather.

• Marginal note:Payment to master

  (3) On the production of a certificate, signed by the authority by whose directions any distressed seaman was received on board, specifying the number and names of the distressed seamen and the time when each of them was received on board, and on a declaration made by the master before a justice of the peace, or any officer authorized to administer an oath, stating the number of days during which each distressed seaman has received maintenance, and stating the full complement of his crew and the actual number of seamen employed on board his ship, and every variation in that number while the distressed seamen received maintenance, the master is entitled to be paid, in respect of the maintenance and passage of every seaman so conveyed, maintained and provided for by him, exceeding the number, if any, wanted to make up the complement of his crew, such daily allowance as the Minister allows.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (4) If any master of a Canadian ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section in the case of any distressed seamen, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

Marginal note:Assistance to shipwrecked, destitute or distressed seamen

• 300 (1) The Minister may, whenever he deems it necessary, out of any moneys appropriated by Parliament for the purpose, authorize the payment of such sums as he deems requisite for the temporary relief in Canada, in such manner as he deems advisable, of shipwrecked, destitute or otherwise distressed seamen not otherwise entitled to relief under this Act or under the laws of the country in which their ship is registered.

• Marginal note:Recovery of such expenses

  (2) Any expenses incurred for shipwrecked, destitute or otherwise distressed seamen under this section are a debt due to the Crown from the master, owner or agent of the ship to which the distressed seamen belonged and may be recovered by the Minister on behalf of the Crown in the same manner as expenses incurred outside Canada for distressed seamen of sea-going vessels registered in Canada are recovered.

PART VSafety

Steamship Inspection Service

Marginal note:Appointment of steamship inspectors

301 The Governor in Council may appoint at such places in Canada as he deems advisable, persons to inspect

• (a) the machinery of steamships,

• (b) the hulls of steamships,

• (c) the equipment of steamships, and

• (d) the electrical installations in steamships,

and a person so appointed shall be referred to in this Act as a “steamship inspector”.

Marginal note:Examination of steamship inspectors

302 No person shall be appointed a steamship inspector unless he has passed a satisfactory examination before the Board of Steamship Inspection, and has obtained a certificate to that effect from the Chairman of the Board, and no person after appointment as a steamship inspector shall be financially interested in the construction or sale of steamships, their equipment or machinery.

Marginal note:Oath of office

• 303 (1) Before entering on his duties, a steamship inspector shall take and subscribe, before a person authorized to administer oaths, an oath to execute well, faithfully and impartially, the duties assigned to him by this Act, which oath shall be in the form or to the effect following:

  I, ........, do solemnly swear that I will well, faithfully and impartially, to the best of my judgment, skill and understanding, execute the duties assigned to the office of steamship inspector. So help me God.

• Marginal note:Forwarded to the Minister

  (2) The oath taken by a steamship inspector shall be forwarded forthwith to the Minister.

Marginal note:Board of Steamship Inspection

• 304 (1) There shall be a Board of Steamship Inspection, composed of the steamship inspectors and such other persons as the Minister may appoint.

• Marginal note:Chairman

  (2) The Governor in Council may appoint any member of the Board to be Chairman.

• Marginal note:Quorum

  (3) Three members of the Board, one of whom shall be the Chairman, form a quorum.

• Marginal note:Casting vote

  (4) The Chairman has the right to vote at meetings of the Board, and, in the case of an equal division, has also a casting vote.

Marginal note:Sittings and records

• 305 (1) The Board shall sit at the direction of the Chairman, and a record of the proceedings thereof shall be kept by the Chairman.

• Marginal note:Duties

  (2) It shall be the duty of the Board

  • (a) to give decisions in respect of the structural strength and suitability from the point of view of the safety of hulls, machinery and equipment where unusual features are presented;

  • (b) to give decisions on such matters arising under this Part as may be referred to it by the Chairman; and

  • (c) to examine candidates for the position of steamship inspector.

• Marginal note:Exemptions and equivalent standards

  (2.1) On application made in writing setting out the circumstances of the case, the Board may, in writing, for such period and on such conditions as it specifies,

  • (a) exempt any ship from complying with any provision of the regulations made under this Act relating to design, construction, equipment, radio equipment, machinery, inspection, manning or operation of ships, where the Board considers that the exemption is necessary or desirable; or

  • (b) permit the substitution, for any such provision of the regulations, of any other provision that, in the opinion of the Board, provides a level of safety at least equivalent to that provided by compliance with that provision of the regulations.

• Marginal note:Failure to comply

  (2.2) Failure to comply with a provision substituted pursuant to paragraph (2.1)(b) shall be deemed to constitute failure to comply with the provision of the regulations for which it was substituted.

• Marginal note:Rules and regulations

  (3) The Board may make rules and regulations for its own conduct, for the uniform inspection of steamships and for such other purposes as are necessary under this Part, and those rules and regulations after they are approved by the Governor in Council have force and effect as if enacted in this Part.

Marginal note:Duties of Chairman

306 The Chairman shall supervise the steamship inspectors, receive and examine all their reports and accounts and is responsible to the Minister for the administration of the law relating to steamship inspection.

Marginal note:Matters in dispute

• 307 (1) Any matter in dispute arising under this Act between the owner of a ship or any other interested party and a steamship inspector may be referred by either of them to the Chairman, who shall decide on the matter himself, or, if he considers that the circumstances warrant it, shall refer it to the Board for a decision.

• Marginal note:Disputes with port wardens

  (1.1) This section also applies, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to matters in dispute referred to in section 551.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where a matter in dispute involves the issue or withholding of a certificate of inspection, the decision of the Chairman or of the Board that a certificate be issued is sufficient authority to the inspector to issue it.

• Marginal note:Appeal to Minister

  (3) Where the owner of a ship or any other interested party is dissatisfied with any decision given by the Chairman or by the Board under subsection (1), or where any matter in dispute arises under this Part between the owner of a ship or any other interested party and the Chairman or the Board, the owner or party may refer the matter to the Minister, who shall finally decide the matter.

• Marginal note:In writing

  (4) Any reference of a matter in dispute and any decision given in respect thereof made under this section shall be in writing.

Marginal note:Deputy Chairmen

• 308 (1) From among the members of the Board the Minister may appoint one or two Deputy Chairmen and, in the latter case, the Minister shall designate one as the First Deputy Chairman and the other as the Second Deputy Chairman.

• Marginal note:Powers and duties of Deputy Chairman

  (2) Where only one Deputy Chairman is appointed, the Deputy Chairman has all the powers and duties of the Chairman in the event of the absence or incapacity of the Chairman or if the office of Chairman is vacant.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) Where two Deputy Chairmen are appointed, subsection (2) applies in turn, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to the First Deputy Chairman and the Second Deputy Chairman.

Marginal note:Chairman may inspect steamships

309 The Chairman may at any time inspect the hull, equipment or machinery of any ship, and if he suspects a steamship inspector of having neglected his duty in respect of that ship, or in any other respect, he may call a meeting of the Board to investigate the case, or he may investigate it himself, and the result of the investigation shall be communicated forthwith, in writing, to the Minister.

Marginal note:Right of inspector to board ships

• 310 (1) A steamship inspector, in the performance of his duties, may go on board any ship at all reasonable times and inspect the ship, or any of the machinery or equipment thereof, or any certificate of a master, mate or engineer, and if he considers the ship unsafe, or, if a passenger ship, unfit to carry passengers, or the machinery or equipment defective in any way so as to expose persons on board to serious danger, he shall detain that ship.

• Marginal note:Right of inspector to detain ship

  (2) A steamship inspector may detain any ship in respect of which any of the provisions of this Act have not been complied with, if, in his opinion, detention is warranted in the circumstances.

• Marginal note:Owners and officers of steamships to answer questions

  (3) When, under this section, a steamship inspector visits any ship, he may ask the owner or his agent, the master or chief engineer, or any other person on board and in charge or appearing to be in charge any pertinent question concerning the ship, or concerning any accident that has happened thereto, that he thinks fit, and every such person shall fully and truly answer every question.

• Marginal note:Putting machinery in motion

  (4) A steamship inspector may require that the machinery of a ship be put in motion so that he may satisfy himself as to its condition.

Marginal note:Inspector to see that steamships have proper lights

• 311 (1) When a steamship inspector inspects any steamship, he shall satisfy himself that the steamship has the navigation lights and other equipment required under the Collision Regulations and that it has the proper certificated officers, navigating and engineering, required under this Act, and a certificate shall not be given to any steamship unless it has the navigating equipment and certificated officers.

• Marginal note:Production of certificate of registry

  (2) A steamship inspector shall demand of the owner or master of every steamship that he inspects the production of the certificate of registry or licence of the vessel, and the owner or master shall produce that certificate or licence on demand.

• Marginal note:Reasonable assistance

  (3) A steamship inspector may demand all reasonable assistance from the owner or master of a ship for the purpose of making an inspection or obtaining information.

Marginal note:Record of inspections and certificates

312 A steamship inspector shall keep a record of the inspections he makes and certificates he issues, in such form and with such particulars respecting them as the Chairman directs, and shall furnish copies thereof and any other information pertaining to the duties of his office that the Chairman may require.

Marginal note:Owner to pay expenses of inspection

• 313 (1) The expenses or any part of the expenses incurred by a steamship inspector in respect of any inspection he may make, or be requested to make, under this Part, shall be paid by the owner of a ship in such manner as the Minister may direct, if

  • (a) inspection is made at a place outside Canada; or

  • (b) the Minister decides in respect of any inspection made in Canada that, due to the fault, or default, of the owner of any ship, his agent, the master or any other servant of the owner, the expenses incurred by any steamship inspector were in whole or in part thrown away, wasted or unreasonably increased.

• Marginal note:Detaining of vessel

  (2) Where the expenses referred to in subsection (1) are not paid forthwith, the ship in respect of which they were incurred is liable to be detained until they are paid.

Marginal note:Regulations implementing Safety Convention and Load Line Convention

314 The Governor in Council may make regulations to implement the Safety Convention and the Load Line Convention.

Marginal note:Regulations for non-Safety Convention ships

314.1 The Governor in Council may make regulations to implement, in whole or in part, the provisions of the International Safety Management Code of the Safety Convention adopted by the International Maritime Organization on November 4, 1993, as amended from time to time, in respect of ships other than Safety Convention ships.

Marginal note:Countries to which Safety Convention applies

315 The Governor in Council, if satisfied that the government of any country has ratified, acceded to or denounced the Safety Convention, may make a declaration to that effect.

Marginal note:Inspection of Safety Convention passenger and nuclear ships

• 316 (1) Every Canadian Safety Convention ship that is a passenger ship and every nuclear ship registered in Canada shall have its hull, machinery and equipment inspected by a steamship inspector in accordance with the regulations before the ship is first put into service and at least once in each year thereafter.

• Marginal note:Inspection of Safety Convention cargo ships

  (2) Every Canadian Safety Convention ship that is a cargo ship of five hundred tons gross tonnage or more, other than a nuclear ship, shall have

  • (a) its equipment inspected by a steamship inspector in accordance with the regulations before the ship is first put into service and at least once every two years thereafter; and

  • (b) its hull and machinery inspected by a steamship inspector in accordance with the regulations before the ship is first put into service and at least once in each year thereafter or, if surveys or inspections referred to in subsection 319(4) are made, in such longer period, not exceeding twenty-five years, as may be prescribed by regulations made under paragraph 319(5)(f).

• Marginal note:Inspection of Canadian steamships not Safety Convention ships

  (3) Subject to sections 405 to 407, every Canadian steamship that is not a ship described in subsection (1) or (2) shall have its hull, machinery and equipment inspected by a steamship inspector in accordance with the regulations before the ship is first put into service and at least once in each year thereafter or, if surveys or inspections referred to in subsection 319(4) are made, in such longer period, not exceeding twenty-five years, as may be prescribed by regulations made under paragraph 319(5)(f).

• Marginal note:Other inspections

  (4) Notwithstanding subsections (2) and (3), where the hull, machinery and equipment of a ship described in those subsections are inspected at intervals less frequent than once a year, the ship shall, in addition, be inspected by a steamship inspector at least once in each year to the extent prescribed in the regulations.

• Marginal note:Anchors and cables part of “hull”

  (4.1) Notwithstanding the definitions “equipment” and “hull” in section 2, anchors and cables shall, for the purposes of subsections (2), (3) and (4), be deemed to be part of the hull and not part of the equipment.

• Marginal note:Steamship not to be used without certificate

  (5) It is the duty of the owner to have an inspection made under this section, and no steamship described in this section shall be used unless there is on board and in force a certificate or certificates issued under section 318 or 319, applicable to the voyage on which the steamship is about to proceed and to the trade in which it is engaged.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (6) The owner or person in charge for the time being of any steamship that makes any voyage contrary to this section is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and not less than one hundred dollars.

• Marginal note:Where fine and costs not paid forthwith

  (7) Where a fine imposed under subsection (6) and the costs of conviction are not paid forthwith, the steamship, subject to the direction of the Minister, is liable to be seized and sold by a chief officer of customs, or any person thereto directed by the Minister, and the fine, the costs of conviction and the costs of the seizure and sale shall be paid out of the proceeds of the sale, and the surplus, if any, shall be paid over to the owner of the steamship.

Marginal note:Inspector’s report to the Chairman

317 A steamship inspector, if satisfied on inspection of a steamship, that he can with propriety do so, shall forward a report to the Chairman, which shall contain statements showing

• (a) that the hull and machinery are sufficient for the service intended and in good condition;

• (b) that the hull and machinery are constructed, arranged and fitted in accordance with the regulations made under this Part;

• (c) that the equipment that is required under the regulations is on board and in good condition;

• (d) that the master, mates and engineers are persons duly certificated as required under this Act, and that the crew is sufficient and efficient;

• (e) the class of voyage on which the steamship is fit to ply, and the time, if less than one year, for which the hull, equipment and machinery will be sufficient;

• (f) if the steamship is a passenger steamship, the number of passengers that it may carry; and

• (g) the steam pressure that may be carried on the boilers.

Inspections by Others

Marginal note:Inspections by others

317.1 The Minister may authorize any person, classification society or other organization to conduct inspections under this Act, subject to this Act and the terms and conditions that are specified by the Minister in the instrument of authorization.

Marginal note:Powers

317.2 A person, classification society or other organization authorized under section 317.1 to conduct inspections does not have the powers of a steamship inspector, but may issue any certificate that may be issued by a steamship inspector, other than an Exemption Certificate.

Marginal note:Delivery of report

• 317.3 (1) A person, classification society or other organization referred to in section 317.2 who does not issue a certificate may deliver their report to a ship inspector.

• Marginal note:Issuance of certificates

  (2) A ship inspector may act on the report and issue the appropriate inspection or Safety Inspection certificates.

• Marginal note:Immunity

  (3) A ship inspector is not liable by reason only of issuing a certificate under subsection (2).

Safety and Inspection Certificates

Marginal note:Certificates to Safety Convention and nuclear ships

• 318 (1) Where the Chairman has received a report of inspection described in section 317 and a report of a radio inspector described in section 346 in respect of a Canadian Safety Convention ship that is a passenger ship or a nuclear ship, and he is satisfied that all the relevant provisions of this Act and the regulations have been complied with, he shall issue for that ship an inspection certificate and the Safety Convention certificate that is described in section 321 and that is appropriate to the class and intended service of that ship.

• Marginal note:Issue of certificates to Safety Convention cargo ships

  (2) Where, after an inspection of a Canadian Safety Convention ship that is a cargo ship of five hundred tons gross tonnage or more, other than a nuclear ship, covering all the particulars set forth in section 317, a steamship inspector is satisfied that all relevant provisions of this Act and the regulations have been complied with, he shall issue for that ship the Safety Convention certificates that are described in section 321 and that are appropriate to the class and intended service of that ship.

• Marginal note:Issue of certificates to nuclear ships not Safety Convention ships

  (3) Where the Chairman has received a report of inspection described in section 317 in respect of a Canadian ship that is a nuclear ship not intended to be used on an international voyage, and he is satisfied that all the relevant provisions of this Act and the regulations have been complied with, he shall issue for that ship an inspection certificate that is appropriate to the class and intended service of that ship.

• Marginal note:Register of certificates

  (4) The Chairman shall maintain a register of all Safety Convention certificates issued pursuant to this section and shall cause each certificate to be marked to show that it has been registered.

Marginal note:Steamships that are not Safety Convention ships

• 319 (1) Where a Canadian steamship is not a ship described in section 318, a steamship inspector shall issue for that ship an inspection certificate that is appropriate to the class and intended service of that ship if he

  • (a) has inspected the hull, equipment and machinery in accordance with any regulations that may be made in respect of inspection under this Part, or has had presented to him proper documentary evidence that such inspection has been made by another inspector;

  • (b) is satisfied that he can with propriety do so, having due regard to the sufficiency and condition of the hull, equipment and machinery; and

  • (c) is satisfied that all relevant provisions of this Act have been complied with.

• Marginal note:Particulars as set out in section 317

  (2) The inspection required for the issue of a certificate under this section shall cover all the particulars set out in section 317 applicable in the case of any particular ship.

• Marginal note:Inspection by exclusive surveyor or other inspector

  (3) For the purposes of this section and subsection 318(2), the Chairman may direct that a survey or inspection by

  • (a) an exclusive surveyor to a society or association for the classification and registry of ships, approved by the Minister, or

  • (b) a surveyor or inspector appointed by the government of a country other than Canada,

  if made at a place outside Canada may, subject to the regulations, be deemed to have been made by a steamship inspector, and the report of that surveyor or inspector may be delivered to a steamship inspector who is entitled to act on it and issue the appropriate inspection or Safety Convention certificates.

• Marginal note:Survey or inspection by exclusive surveyor, where ship is in Canada

  (4) For the purposes of this section and of section 318, the Governor in Council may, by regulations made under subsection (5), provide that a survey or inspection of a ship by an exclusive surveyor to a society or association for the classification and registry of ships, if made at a place in Canada, may be deemed to have been made by a steamship inspector, and the report of that surveyor may be delivered to the Chairman or to a steamship inspector, as the case may be, who is entitled to act on it and issue the appropriate inspection or Safety Convention certificates.

• Marginal note:Regulations relating to subsection (4)

  (5) The Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing

  • (a) the classes of ships to which subsection (4) applies;

  • (b) which societies or associations for the classification and registry of ships are recognized for the purposes of subsection (4);

  • (c) the scope of surveys or inspections referred to in subsection (4);

  • (d) the terms and conditions under which a report of a surveyor referred to in subsection (4) may be accepted by the Chairman or by a steamship inspector, including the submission to the Chairman or steamship inspector of information in addition to the report of the surveyor;

  • (e) the terms and conditions of the continued validity of a certificate issued by the Chairman or by a steamship inspector pursuant to subsection (4); and

  • (f) the longer period, not exceeding twenty-five years, referred to in paragraph 316(2)(b) and subsection 316(3).

• Marginal note:Chairman or steamship inspector not liable

  (6) The Chairman or a steamship inspector is not liable to any person by reason only of having issued the appropriate certificate in reliance on a report of a surveyor or inspector referred to in subsection (3) or (4).

319.1 [Repealed, 1998, c. 16, s. 7]

Marginal note:Form and particulars of inspection certificate

320 The Governor in Council may make regulations providing for the form of and the particulars to be given in an inspection certificate to be issued in respect of a steamship pursuant to section 318 or 319, and that certificate shall, in addition to any particulars required to be shown under the regulations, state

• (a) the limits, if any, beyond which the steamship is not fit to ply;

• (b) the number of persons, including the master, composing the crew of the steamship; and

• (c) the number of passengers that a passenger steamship is fit to carry, distinguishing, if necessary, the number to be carried in each part of the steamship, and any conditions and variations to which the number is subject.

Marginal note:Safety Convention certificates

321 The Safety Convention certificate to be issued pursuant to section 318 is, in the case of a ship

• (a) that complies with all the provisions of this Part applicable to Safety Convention passenger ships, other than nuclear ships, a Passenger Ship Safety Certificate;

• (b) that complies with all the provisions of this Part relating to construction that are applicable to Safety Convention cargo ships, other than nuclear ships, a Cargo Ship Safety Construction Certificate;

• (c) that complies with all the provisions of this Part relating to safety equipment that are applicable to Safety Convention cargo ships, other than nuclear ships, a Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate;

• (d) that is issued a certificate described in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) and is exempted from any of the provisions of this Part that would otherwise be applicable to it, an Exemption Certificate;

• (e) that complies with all the provisions of this Part applicable to Safety Convention nuclear passenger ships, a Nuclear Passenger Ship Safety Certificate; and

• (f) that complies with all the provisions of this Part applicable to Safety Convention nuclear cargo ships, a Nuclear Cargo Ship Safety Certificate.

Marginal note:Modification of Safety Convention certificates

• 322 (1) Where, in the course of a voyage, a Canadian ship for which a Passenger Ship Safety Certificate has been issued has on board a number of persons that is less than the number of persons stated in the certificate, the Chairman or a person authorized by him may issue a memorandum stating the number of persons carried on that voyage and the modifications that may be made with respect to the life-saving appliances carried on the ship on that voyage, and that memorandum shall be annexed to the certificate.

• Marginal note:Memorandum to be returned

  (2) Every memorandum described in subsection (1) shall be returned to the Minister at the end of the voyage to which it relates, and, if it is not so returned, the master of the steamship is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

Marginal note:Posting of certificates

• 323 (1) The owner or master of a ship, in respect of which a certificate has been issued pursuant to section 318 or 319, shall cause that certificate to be posted on the ship in a conspicuous place accessible to all persons on board and to remain so posted for so long as the certificate is in force and the ship is in use.

• Marginal note:Duration of certificates

  (2) A certificate issued pursuant to section 318 or 319, other than an Exemption Certificate, shall be in force for a period not in excess of

  • (a) five years, in the case of a Cargo Ship Safety Construction Certificate,

  • (b) two years, in the case of a Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate,

  • (c) four years, in the case of an inspection certificate issued in respect of a ship to which section 407 applies, and

  • (d) one year, in the case of any other certificate,

  or until such earlier date that notice that the certificate is cancelled is given by the Chairman to the owner or master.

• Marginal note:Duration of Exemption Certificate

  (3) No Exemption Certificate shall be in force for a longer period than the certificate to which it relates.

Marginal note:Extension may be granted

• 324 (1) Where a Canadian ship in respect of which a certificate, other than a Cargo Ship Safety Construction Certificate, has been issued under section 318 or 319, is absent from Canada at the date when the certificate expires, the Minister or any person authorized by him for the purpose may, if it appears proper and reasonable to do so, grant such extension of the certificate as will allow the ship to return to Canada, but no such extension has effect for a period exceeding five months, and no such ship shall, after returning to a port in Canada, clear from that port until inspection has been made and a new certificate issued.

• Marginal note:Extension of certificates

  (2) A certificate, other than a Cargo Ship Safety Construction Certificate, that has been issued pursuant to section 318 or 319 and that has not been extended under subsection (1) may be extended by the Minister or any person authorized by him for a period of not more than one month beyond the date when it would otherwise expire.

Marginal note:Cancellation of certificates

• 325 (1) A certificate may be cancelled by the Minister if

  • (a) there is reason to believe that it was obtained fraudulently, or on wrong information, or that, since it was issued, the hull, equipment, radio equipment or machinery has sustained any injury or is otherwise insufficient;

  • (b) any structural alterations have been made, in the steamship in respect of which it was issued, that would alter the essential conditions under which the certificate was issued; or

  • (c) the ship has not been inspected as and when required by subsections 316(1) to (4) and any regulations made thereunder.

• Marginal note:Certificate delivered up

  (2) A certificate that has been cancelled shall be delivered up on demand to an inspector.

Marginal note:Issue of certificates by other governments

326 The Minister may request the government of a country to which the Safety Convention applies to issue in respect of a Canadian ship any certificate provided for by the Safety Convention, and a Certificate issued in pursuance of such a request and containing a statement that it has been so issued has effect for the purposes of this Act as if it had been issued under sections 318 and 348.

Marginal note:Issue of certificates to ships that are not Canadian ships

• 327 (1) The Minister may, at the request of the government of a country to which the Safety Convention applies, cause any certificate provided for by the Safety Convention to be issued in respect of a ship of that country if he is satisfied, in like manner as in the case of a Canadian ship, that such certificate may properly be issued, and, where a certificate is issued at such a request, it shall contain a statement that it has been so issued.

• Marginal note:Effect of certificates

  (2) Where a valid Passenger Ship Safety Certificate is produced in respect of a Safety Convention ship that is not a Canadian ship and there is annexed to that certificate a memorandum that

  • (a) has been issued by or under the authority of the government of the country to which the steamship belongs, and

  • (b) modifies for the purpose of any particular voyage, in view of the number of persons actually carried on that voyage, the particulars stated in the certificate with respect to life-saving appliances,

  the certificate has effect for the purpose of that voyage as if it were modified in accordance with the memorandum.

Marginal note:Application of Part to non-Canadian Safety Convention ships

• 328 (1) Where a valid Passenger Ship Safety Certificate is produced in respect of a Safety Convention ship that is not a Canadian ship

  • (a) subsection 316(1) relating to inspection of machinery shall be deemed to have been complied with in the case of that ship;

  • (b) the inspection of the hull and equipment under subsection 316(1) shall be limited to ascertaining the number of passengers that the ship is fit to carry, and it is not necessary for the report of the inspector to contain a statement of any further particulars than those set out in paragraph 317(f); and

  • (c) on receipt of the report referred to in paragraph (b) there shall be issued a certificate indicating that this section has been complied with.

• Marginal note:Dispensing with inspection of certain passenger ships

  (2) Where

  • (a) a valid Passenger Ship Safety Certificate is produced in respect of a Safety Convention ship that is not a Canadian ship, together with an inspection certificate issued by or under the authority of the government of the country to which the ship belongs showing the number of passengers the ship is fit to carry, and

  • (b) the Minister is satisfied that the number of passengers the inspection certificate shows the ship may carry with safety has been determined substantially in the same manner as is prescribed in this Act or the regulations with respect to a Canadian Safety Convention ship,

  the Minister may dispense with the inspection mentioned in paragraph (1)(b) in respect of that ship.

• Marginal note:Dispensing with inspection of certain cargo ships

  (3) Where a valid Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate, a valid Cargo Ship Safety Construction Certificate and, if one has been issued, a valid Exemption Certificate relating to either of those certificates are produced in respect of a Safety Convention cargo ship of five hundred tons gross tonnage or more that is not a Canadian ship, the ship is not subject to inspection in respect of matters dealt with by such certificates, except in so far as may be necessary to determine that the condition of the ship and its equipment corresponds substantially with the particulars set out in the certificates.

Marginal note:Miscellaneous privileges of ships holding Safety Convention certificates

• 329 (1) Where a valid Safety Convention certificate is produced in respect of a Safety Convention ship that is not a Canadian ship,

  • (a) the ship is exempt from compliance with the regulations made under this Act with respect to life-saving appliances; and

  • (b) the ship shall not be deemed to be unsafe for the purposes of section 392 by reason of the defective condition of the hull, equipment or machinery, if it appears that the conditions correspond substantially with the particulars in the certificate, but if it appears to the chief officer of customs that the conditions do not correspond substantially with the particulars in the certificate and that the ship cannot proceed to sea without danger to the passengers or the crew, he shall detain the ship until he is satisfied that the ship can proceed safely to sea.

• Marginal note:Informing authorities re detention

  (2) Where a ship is detained under paragraph (1)(b), the chief officer of customs shall forthwith inform the consular officer of the country in which the ship is registered of all the circumstances of the case and shall advise the Chairman of the action he has taken.

Marginal note:No clearance until Safety Convention certificates produced

330 A clearance shall not be granted for any Safety Convention ship until there has been produced to the officer of customs from whom clearance is requested

• (a) if the ship is a passenger ship other than a nuclear ship, a valid Passenger Ship Safety Certificate and, if one has been issued, a valid Exemption Certificate;

• (b) if the ship is a nuclear passenger ship, a valid Nuclear Passenger Ship Safety Certificate;

• (c) if the ship is a nuclear cargo ship and there has not been produced a certificate mentioned in paragraph (b), a valid Nuclear Cargo Ship Safety Certificate; and

• (d) if the ship is a cargo ship other than a nuclear ship and there has not been produced a certificate mentioned in paragraph (a),

  • (i) a valid Cargo Ship Safety Construction Certificate and a valid Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate, where the gross tonnage of the ship is five hundred tons or more, and

  • (ii) a valid Cargo Ship Safety Radio-telegraphy Certificate, where the gross tonnage of the ship is sixteen hundred tons or more, or a valid Cargo Ship Safety Radio-telegraphy Certificate or a valid Cargo Ship Safety Radio-telephony Certificate, where the gross tonnage of the ship is less than sixteen hundred tons,

  and any valid Exemption Certificate that has been issued in respect of the ship.

Marginal note:International voyages from Canada

• 331 (1) A ship registered in a country that is not a party to the Safety Convention and that is carrying more than twelve passengers, is of three hundred tons gross tonnage or more or is a nuclear ship shall not go on an international voyage from any place in Canada unless it complies with all the provisions of this Part and the regulations applicable to Canadian Safety Convention ships, but the Minister may authorize the clearance of the ship if he is satisfied that

  • (a) no passengers are carried;

  • (b) the amount of cargo carried is not more than is sufficient to enable the ship to make a voyage in safety;

  • (c) the hull, boilers, machinery and equipment of the ship are in good condition and sufficient for the voyage contemplated; and

  • (d) the radio installation is in good condition and sufficient for the voyage contemplated.

• Marginal note:Contravention

  (2) Where this section is contravened in respect of any ship, the ship shall be detained by the chief officer of customs until this section has been complied with.

Limited and other Voyages

Marginal note:Voyages between two places

• 332 (1) Where the inspection certificate issued in respect of any steamship shows that it is allowed to make voyages between any two places, and the certificate is qualified to show that the voyage is to be made with calls at one or more intermediate places specified, the certificate is only valid on a voyage where such calls are made.

• Marginal note:Certificates not valid beyond limits

  (2) Where the owner of a steamship requests the issue of an inspection certificate that allows the steamship to make voyages between two places, the certificate is not valid if, in the course of any voyage, the ship is taken beyond the limits of voyages allowed by the certificate.

• Marginal note:Voyage from Canada and return to same place

  (3) A steamship that makes a voyage from a place in Canada, and returns to the same place without calling at another place, shall be deemed

  • (a) to be making a foreign voyage, if, during the course of the voyage, the ship is, unless by deviation caused solely by stress of weather or other circumstances that the master or owner of the ship could not prevent or forestall, more than two hundred nautical miles from shore; and

  • (b) to be making a home-trade voyage if, during the course of the voyage, it is not more than two hundred nautical miles from shore, and the voyage is not an inland voyage.

• Marginal note:Voyages similar to home-trade voyages

  (4) The Minister may direct that any voyage between places not in Canada that is similar in characteristics to a home-trade voyage as defined in this Act shall be deemed to be a home-trade voyage for the purpose of the granting of a certificate of inspection under this Act, if, during the course of the voyage, the ship does not, unless by deviation caused solely by stress of weather or other circumstances that the master or owner of the ship could not prevent or forestall, go more than two hundred nautical miles off shore.

Overloading Passenger Ships

Marginal note:Carrying passengers in excess

• 333 (1) No master or owner of any passenger steamship registered in Canada shall anywhere, and no master of any passenger steamship shall in Canada, permit passengers to be on board or on or in any part of a steamship in excess of the number allowed as stated in its inspection certificate.

• Marginal note:Offence

  (2) A master or owner who contravenes this section is guilty of an offence and liable

  • (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both; or

  • (b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.

Marginal note:Steamships not to submerge load lines

• 334 (1) Where

  • (a) a passenger steamship that is a Canadian ship has been marked with subdivision load lines, that is to say, load lines indicating the maximum depth to which the steamship may be loaded having regard to the extent to which it is subdivided and to the space for the time being allotted to passengers, and

  • (b) the appropriate subdivision load line, that is to say, the subdivision load line appropriate to the space for the time being allotted to passengers on the steamship, is lower than the load line indicating the maximum depth to which the steamship may for the time being under this Act and the regulations be loaded,

  the steamship shall not be loaded so that the appropriate subdivision load line is submerged.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) The owner or master of a passenger steamship that is loaded in contravention of subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars and to an additional fine not exceeding five hundred dollars for each inch or fraction of an inch by which the appropriate subdivision load line of the steamship was submerged.

• Marginal note:Steamships to be detained

  (3) Without prejudice to any proceedings under this section, a steamship that is loaded in contravention of this section shall be detained until it ceases to be so loaded.

• Marginal note:Application

  (4) This section applies to passenger steamships not registered in Canada, while they are within any place in Canada, as it applies to passenger steamships registered in Canada.

Safety Precautions

Marginal note:Crew to be sufficient and efficient

• 335 (1) Every steamship registered in Canada shall be manned with a crew sufficient and efficient from the point of view of safety of life for the purpose of its intended voyage, and shall, during the voyage, be kept so manned.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) If any of the provisions of this section are not complied with in the case of any steamship, the owner, if in fault, is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, and the master, if in fault, is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars.

Marginal note:Signalling lamps

336 No Canadian ship being a ship of over one hundred and fifty tons gross tonnage shall proceed to sea on an international voyage unless the ship is provided with a signalling lamp of a type approved by the Board, and if any ship proceeds or attempts to proceed to sea in contravention of this section, the owner or master thereof is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

Marginal note:Printed notices and diagrams

• 337 (1) In every passenger steamship ample provision shall be made, to the satisfaction of a steamship inspector, by printed notices, and by diagrams where necessary, to acquaint the passengers with the location of life-boats, life-jackets and other life-saving apparatus and with the position of fire buckets, axes and fire-extinguishers, and there shall be exhibited in each stateroom, and throughout the ship to the satisfaction of a steamship inspector, notices showing the method of adjusting life-jackets to the body.

• Marginal note:Copy of this Part

  (2) There shall be carried on board every passenger steamship registered in Canada, in some conspicuous place accessible to all the passengers, a printed copy of this Part.

Marginal note:Regulations

• 338 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

  • (a) the construction of hulls, including their subdivision into watertight compartments, and the fitting of double bottoms and fire-resisting bulkheads;

  • (b) the construction and installation of machinery;

  • (c) the construction of equipment and the class and quantity of various types of equipment to be carried in any vessel including the marking of boats, life-boats, life-rafts and buoyant apparatus so as to show the dimensions thereof and the number of persons authorized to be carried thereon;

  • (c.1) the construction, servicing and repair of life-saving equipment intended to carry more than one person, including buoyant apparatus, life-boats and life-rafts, to be carried on vessels, the performance standards for that equipment and the markings required to appear on them so as to show their dimensions and the number of persons authorized to be carried on them;

  • (c.2) the construction, servicing and repair of flotation devices intended for the use of only one person to be carried on vessels, and the performance standards for those devices;

  • (d) compasses, sounding apparatus, electronic equipment and other navigating appliances and equipment;

  • (e) propelling power, steering capability and position controlling arrangements;

  • (f) stability, and the data in regard thereto to be supplied to the master of a steamship;

  • (g) the marking of vessels to show the recommended safe limits for engine power and gross load capacity;

  • (h) the marking of subdivision load lines on passenger steamships;

  • (i) the provisions to be made for mustering the passengers and crew for abandoning ship, including the lighting of decks, passageways and similar parts of the ship, and the provision of proper means for escape from the various parts of the ship;

  • (j) passenger accommodation and the number of passengers allowed to be carried;

  • (k) the production of plans and documentary evidence showing the construction of hulls, machinery and equipment, the subdivision of hulls into watertight compartments, the arrangement of passenger accommodation and like information necessary to decide on the fitness of a steamship for any particular service;

  • (l) the inspection of the hulls, equipment and machinery of steamships and the extent to which inspection shall be carried out at intervals of twelve months, or at longer intervals, having due regard to the class of voyage on which a steamship is to be engaged, and the trade in which it is employed, and whether the ship is classed with a society or association for the classification and registry of shipping approved by the Minister;

  • (m) personal flotation devices to be carried and used on board vessels or classes of vessels, including regulations defining the expression “personal flotation device” and regulations specifying who must use those devices, and when they must be worn, while a vessel is in operation;

  • (n) the subdivision of home-trade voyages and inland voyages into classes, having regard to the degree of risk that may be encountered on any of those voyages;

  • (o) the manning of steamships, the number of certificated life-boat men to be carried and the qualifications for and the granting of certificates to life-boat men;

  • (p) the carrying of line-throwing apparatus;

  • (q) precautions against fire;

  • (r) the holding of periodic boat and fire drills;

  • (s) the provision of pilot ladders on ships;

  • (t) the construction of ships carrying hazardous cargoes, and their equipment and systems;

  • (u) the inspection and operation of equipment and systems on board ships carrying hazardous cargoes;

  • (v) the information to be provided regarding the nature and properties of hazardous cargoes to be carried on ships; and

  • (w) the safe use of pesticides in the fumigation of ships, including regulations prescribing what pesticides or classes of pesticides may or may not be used in the fumigation of ships.

• Marginal note:Hazardous cargoes

  (2) The Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing hazardous cargoes for the purpose of paragraphs (1)(t), (u) and (v).

Marginal note:Regulations to implement Safety Convention

• 339 (1) The regulations that the Governor in Council may make under section 338, in so far as they apply to Safety Convention ships, may include such requirements as appear to him to be necessary to implement the provisions of the Safety Convention.

• Marginal note:Application of regulations

  (1.1) Regulations made under subsection 338(1) may extend, if they so state, to any ship as defined in Part XV, but in no case does a regulation made under subsection (1) apply to ships capable of engaging in the drilling for, or the production, conservation or processing of, oil or gas unless the regulation so states and was made on the joint recommendation of the Minister and the Minister of Natural Resources.

• Marginal note:Meaning of “oil” and “gas”

  (1.2) For the purposes of subsection (1.1), the words oil and gas have the same meanings as in the Oil and Gas Production and Conservation Act.

• Marginal note:Subdivision of steamships

  (2) The regulations that the Governor in Council may make under section 338 in respect of the subdivision of passenger steamships into watertight compartments shall be such that, if it appears to the Minister

  • (a) that any such ship plying on any international voyage, and carrying more than twelve passengers incurs exceptional risks owing to weather and traffic conditions, and

  • (b) that owing to the small proportion of space allotted to cargo in any of those ships constructed after the coming into force of the Safety Convention, or converted to passenger service after that date, the ship can be subdivided to a greater extent than is required by the Safety Convention,

  he may direct that the ship be subdivided to such greater extent as appears to him to be practicable and expedient in the interests of safety.