Adaped from a Transport Canada document June 1999. Details may be out of date and are provided for general information only.
Approval of a name for your vessel must be obtained from the Ministry
of Transport through the Registrar of Shipping at the intended Port of Registry.
This must be a name which is not in use by any other registered vessel in Canada.
For this reason, it is recommended that you submit two or three alternatives.
A title for the register, conveying title free and clear of encumbrances, must
be supplied in the form of a Builder's Certificate. The certificate must show
that the vessel was built for you and must be signed by the builder of the hull.
If you built the hull, you will sign the certificate. If you or the builder
built this vessel for yourself and for any other member of your family, and
you wish to register this vessel in joint ownership, the Builder's Certificate
should indicate this. A vessel may also be registered in the name of a registered
Commonwealth company. If the vessel was built by a registered company, the Builder's
Certificate must bear the corporate seal of that company.
To have the vessel measured for tonnage, arrangements must be made through a
government appointed surveyor for tonnage measurement. Contact a Ship Registry
office for a name and number. (Contact information is listed at the front of
this document.)
After the measurement of the vessel, a Certificate of Survey is raised by the
Surveyor. After approval, the certificate is forwarded to the Registrar of Shipping
at the intended Port of Registry. A Ship's Carving and Marking Note is a document
which instructs you in the proper method of marking the vessel as to name, Port
of Registry, official number and register tonnage. The Marking Note will then
be forwarded to you. This Marking Note must be certified by one of the Officers
indicated in a footnote after the markings have been sighted and then returned
to the Registrar.
The remainder of the registration process is documentary. This involves completion
and signing of an Applications for Registry and a Declaration of Ownership.
The Declaration of Ownership is a sworn statement which must be taken before
a Notary Public, Commissioner of Oaths or Registrar of Shipping. This establishes
your right as a Canadian Citizen, British Subject or a Commonwealth Corporation
to ownership of a Canadian registered vessel. The registration fee for vessels
up to fifty gross tonnes is $114.00 which is payable to the Receiver General
for Canada through the Port of Registry. This completes the registration process.
The Certificate of Registry, commonly called the "Blue Book" is then issued.
1999 - for archival information only
