Exemptions and Pilotage Certificates

Since the coming into force of the Pilotage Act in 1972, an anomaly has existed in respect of pilotage requirements in the Great Lakes. Essentially, a temporary, transitional exemption for Canadian vessels from the requirement to either be under the conduct of an officer whose competence to pilot the vessel has been certified by the Pilotage Authority, or to have a licensed pilot on board, has remained in place for over 35 years.
The need to remove this anomaly has been noted by Madame Justice Gauthier, in her capacity as an Investigator appointed by the Minister of Transport (1990), the Canadian Transportation Agency (1999), the report on risk assessment commissioned by the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority (2002) and the Auditor General of Canada (2008). Click here for further information.
Continual opposition from Canadian shipowners has prevented any effective remedy from being implemented.

The most recent and still ongoing effort to resolve this matter has been underway for nearly two years and has reached its critical point; proposed amendments to the Great Lakes Pilotage Regulations are expected to be published in Part 1 of the Canada Gazette before the end of September 2010.
The proposed amendments to the Regulations would eliminate the long-standing and anomalous exemption by putting in place a procedure for determining the competence of officers on Canadian vessels to hold a pilotage certificate. Where ships' officers obtained a pilotage certificate, the obligation to board a pilot would not apply.
The proposed regulations assign the central and decisive role in the assessment and the determination of competency of applicants for pilotage certification to the shipowners themselves, rather than to the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority. The role of the Authority is restricted to auditing the process by which the shipowners determine competency.

The role of the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority to act in the public interest as the independent and impartial regulator on matters related to the safe conduct of vessels is in danger of being compromised.
Proposed amendments to the Great Lakes Pilotage Regulations would assign the central and decisive responsibility for the assessment and determination of competency of applicants for pilotage certification to shipowners themselves, rather than to the Authority. The Authority's role would be restricted to auditing the process by which the shipowners determine competency.
The issue is whether independent regulation should be replaced by industry self-regulation.

Because the proposed amendments to the Regulations effectively place the determination of competency of applicants for pilotage certificates with shipowners, the proposal is not acceptable.
Responsibility for determining competency should be explicitly assigned to the Authority, as the independent regulator. Without such an independent and impartial assessment, there can be no assurance that vessels are being conducted in the safest possible manner.
Moreover, the proposed amendments to the Regulations are contrary to the intention of the Pilotage Act. The Act specifically assigns responsibility for the determination of competency to the Pilotage Authority and this responsibility cannot be delegated, let alone to an interested party.
The amendments would establish a practice counter to that followed by the American government in the same bodies of water in respect of domestic officers (in which case the Coast Guard determines competency), and by virtually all other pilotage regimes around the world. Click here for further information on international norms regarding pilotage certificates.
It is also contrary to the practice in Canada for issuing certificates to masters and officers of marine vessels. In such cases, an independent government agency - Transport Canada - decides who is competent to hold a certificate.