Buying a Boat in Canada: Documentation Facts

Are you buying a boat in Canada and aren’t sure what the next step is? Did you recently purchase a vessel and are in the process of figuring out what to do? There’s an old saying that the best days of vessel ownership are the day you buy it and the day you sell it. (Of course, the days in between riding it out on the water can be quite enjoyable as well.) When you purchase it, you’ll have to make the right decision about whether to register or license it. We can help.

How Are You Going to Use the Boat?

This is one of the most important questions to ask yourself in terms of whether to register or get a license. Are you going to use it to have fun with family and friends, to go on boat rides, swimming, and the like? If so, then you’re going to want a “Pleasure Craft License.” Or, alternatively, are you going to use it to make money, utilizing the vessel in a commercial sense? If you plan on using it for commercial fishing, or to transport people and/or goods for money, then you’re going to want to “register” your vessel. It’s one or the other, you can’t do both.

What’s the Size of the Boat and its Engine?

Now that you’ve answered the questions in the prior section, you can determine exactly what to do with your vessel. If you’re going to use it for pleasure, fun, and recreation, and the vessel’s engine is less than 7.5kW/10 horsepower, then you don’t have to worry about getting a Pleasure Craft License. If you’re going to use it in a commercial capacity and the vessel has a gross tonnage of 15 or less, then you’re going to want to register it with the “Small Vessel Registry.” If it’s larger than that, use the “regular” registry. Remember: “gross tonnage” measures volume, not weight.

The Best Place to License or Register It

It’s entirely possible that, after having read the above, your head is spinning. Should that be the case, you’ll be able to perform all of the actions mentioned above and more through our site. We specifically designed our site to work from anywhere and on any device. So, no matter if you want to get a Pleasure Craft License, register it, or register it on the Small Vessel Registry, we’ve got you covered.

After You’re Done Buying a Boat in Canada

We don’t believe that the documentation or licensing process should be a difficult or challenging one. Indeed, we believe that it should be as simple as possible for vessel owners from all walks of life. To that end, we’ve done everything we can to help with every form of boat documentation and not just the licensing/registration. At our site, you can find all that you’ll need for transfers, bareboat charters, and much more. To see all that we offer, head to our site.