Boaters must have their operators card
Posted By STEPHEN UHLER
Posted 4 months ago
Local boaters are being given the word they must have their Pleasure Craft Operators Card in hand or face the consequences.
As of Sept. 15, anyone operating an electric or gas-powered motorized boat of any sort will need to have the card ready to produce when asked, or they will be fined a minimum of $250 plus $55 in court costs.
Constable Dan Park, the lead marine operator for the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP, said these new regulations have been well-known for a decade, coming from changes to federal shipping laws in April 1999.
Gradually, these amendments have been applied to recreation boaters since 2002 and as of Tuesday everyone will be required to comply with them.
"Everybody has to have the card now," he said, and like a driver's licence, it must be kept on their person.
"There are a lot of people who think they have 24 hours to produce it and that isn't true."
Const. Park said those who are out on the water without the operators card are facing "a very good chance they will be charged."
After a decade-long phase-in period, all Canadian boaters need to have their Pleasure Craft Operator Card, commonly referred to as a boating licence, or they risk expensive fines.
Anyone operating a powered watercraft recreation-ally in the country must have the card.
Approximately three million boaters have taken their boater exam already and have it, but it is estimated some 10 million boaters still need it.
Const. Park said everyone he has spoken to over the summer are aware of the need to possess the card, so he is hopeful most residents will have obtained it by now.
He said age is not a factor in this -he has encountered a 10-year-old who possesses an operator's card -and any operator of any vessel which is propelled by any type or size of motor needs to have one.
To get a card, people are advised to check BoaterExam.com'sofficial web site at www.BoaterExam.com.
It is Transport Canada accredited and the solution for boaters to get certified quickly.
The website and customer service centre is open for business 24 hours a day to accommodate the rush of boaters who have waited to the last minute.
Applicants have to answer a 36 question, multiple-choice exam and require a 75 per cent mark to receive a passing grade.
Boaters can print a temporary card as soon as they pass online and their permanent card is mailed to their home in a few weeks, meaning they don't need to wait to get back on the water.
The card is good for life and never needs to be renewed.
Stephen Uhler is a Daily Observer reporter
