Regulations Amending Certain Department of Transport Regulations (Miscellaneous Program): SOR/2023-105
Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 157, Number 12
Registration
SOR/2023-105 May 19, 2023
ARCTIC WATERS POLLUTION PREVENTION ACT
CANADA SHIPPING ACT, 2001
P.C. 2023-456 May 18, 2023
Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Transport with respect to the provisions of the annexed Regulations Amending Certain Department of Transport Regulations (Miscellaneous Program) other than section 15 and on the recommendation of the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Natural Resources with respect to section 15, makes the annexed Regulations Amending Certain Department of Transport Regulations (Miscellaneous Program) under
- (a) subsection 12(1) of the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act footnote a; and
- (b) paragraphs 35(1)(d) and (e)footnote b and 120(1)(a), (h) and (l) to (n), subsection 120(2) and paragraph 190(1)(h) of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 footnote c.
Regulations Amending Certain Department of Transport Regulations (Miscellaneous Program)
Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act and Canada Shipping Act, 2001
Arctic Shipping Safety and Pollution Prevention Regulations
1 The heading of column 6 of Schedule 2 to the Arctic Shipping Safety and Pollution Prevention Regulations footnote 1 is replaced by “DNV”.
| Item | Column 2 American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ice Class IAA |
| Item | Column 6 DNV |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ice (1A*), ICE-1A* or E4 |
| Item | Column 10 Lloyd’s Register of Shipping (LR) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ice Class 1AS FS (+) or Ice Class 1AS FS |
| Item | Column 2 American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) |
|---|---|
| 2 | Ice Class IA |
| 3 | Ice Class IB |
| 4 | Ice Class IC |
| Item | Column 1 Type of Vessel |
Column 2 American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Type E (see Note) | Below Ice Class IC |
5 Schedule 2 to the Regulations is amended by adding the following at the end of that Schedule:
Note: Type E includes the identified ice class and any class below it, as well as vessels without an assigned class of ice strengthening.
Canada Shipping Act, 2001
Collision Regulations
6 (1) The definition Notice to Shipping in subsection 1(1) of the Collision Regulations footnote 2 is repealed.
(2) Subsection 1(1) of the Regulations is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:
- Navigational Warning
- means an urgent release by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to provide marine information. (Avertissement de navigation)
7 The heading before section 7 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
Notices to Mariners and Navigational Warnings
8 The portion of section 7 of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
7 Every vessel shall navigate with particular caution where navigation may be difficult or hazardous and, for that purpose, shall comply with any instructions and directions contained in Notices to Mariners or Navigational Warnings that are issued as a result of circumstances such as
9 The Regulations are amended by replacing “Notice to Shipping” with “Navigational Warning” in the following provisions:
- (a) paragraph (c) of Rule 6 of Section I of Part B of Schedule 1; and
- (b) paragraph (m) of Rule 10 of Section I of Part B of Schedule 1.
Load Line Regulations
10 Subsection 6(2) of Schedule 2 to the Load Line Regulations footnote 3 is replaced by the following:
(2) Subject to subsection (3), if the assumed bow height is less than the standard bow height, the basic freeboard shall be increased by the difference.
Special-purpose Vessels Regulations
11 (1) Subsection 7(6) of the French version of the Special-purpose Vessels Regulations footnote 4 is replaced by the following:
(6) Il est remis à toute personne qui participe à une excursion dans des eaux de classe 3 ou plus dont la température est inférieure à 15 °C, à l’exception d’une excursion à bord d’un bâtiment de plus de 6 m de longueur muni d’un moteur, un vêtement de la bonne taille qui est conçu pour offrir une protection thermique au tronc du corps lorsque la personne qui le porte est immergée dans l’eau.
(2) Paragraph 7(7)(c) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
- c) s’il s’agit d’un gilet pour eaux vives, il a été approuvé par la United States Coast Guard pour utilisation dans le cadre d’activités commerciales en eaux vives;
12 Paragraph 8(1)(d) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
- d) une bande roulée de 7,5 cm × 4,5 m;
13 Section 14 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
14 Any equipment or material that is on board a vessel and that is not being used shall be stowed and secured in place when the vessel is moving.
14 Paragraphs 18(b) and (c) of the Regulations are replaced by the following:
- (b) information in respect of the certificates required by paragraph 10(1)(b) and section 11, including the name of the holder of the certificate, its date of issuance and, if applicable, the name of the institution that issued it and the endorsed propulsion method as chosen by the enterprise or specified on the swift-water rescue certificate;
- (c) a description of the safety briefing required by section 12; and
Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020
15 Subparagraph 142(1)(c)(i) of the Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020 footnote 5 is replaced by the following:
- (i) Canadian Sailing Directions, published by the Canadian Hydrographic Service,
16 The portion of subsection 204(1) of the French version of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Installation radio VHF
204 (1) Les bâtiments ci-après qui effectuent un voyage en partie dans la zone océanique A1, à l’intérieur de la couverture VHF d’une station de la Garde côtière canadienne, ou un voyage de plus de cinq milles marins du rivage dans les eaux du littoral du Canada doivent être munis d’une installation radio VHF avec fonction ASN :
17 The portion of subsection 222(3) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Exception — VHF radio installation capable of DSC
(3) The VHF radio installation capable of DSC on board a vessel referred to in subsection 204(1) or paragraph 207(1)(b) may meet either of the following standards instead of the standards referred to in paragraphs (1)(c) and (d):
Coming into Force
18 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are published in the Canada Gazette, Part II.
REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT
(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)
Issues
On September 22, 2017, the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations (SJCSR) identified a number of administrative and technical issues with the Special-purpose Vessel Regulations and recommended that the Regulations be amended to address these issues.
Transport Canada officials also identified a number of minor issues in regulations it administers through departmental review processes. Transport Canada is proactively addressing these non-substantive issues through miscellaneous amendment regulations. The following regulations will be amended to address the identified issues: the Arctic Shipping Safety and Pollution Prevention Regulations, the Load Line Regulations, the Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020 and the Collision Regulations.
Objective
The regulatory amendments have the following objectives:
- to correct discrepancies between the French and English versions;
- to improve the clarity of some provisions to facilitate consistent interpretation;
- to correct ship classification names and add a classification description to prevent any misinterpretation;
- to remove a reference to a non-existent provision;
- to correct minor errors; and
- to update references.
Description and rationale
This initiative aims to (i) respond to SJCSR recommendations, which are minor in nature (to align the English and French versions of the Special-purpose Vessels Regulations and provide additional clarity with regard to certain provisions); (ii) correct classification names to provide a clearer description of a classification; (iii) remove reference to a non-existent provision; (iv) correct minor errors; and (v) update references.
All of the amendments are technical and/or administrative; they are not expected to result in any incremental costs for stakeholders.
1. Response to SJCSR recommendations
Special-purpose Vessels Regulations
Six amendments to the Special-purpose Vessels Regulations will address issues identified by the SJCSR in 2017.
- Subsection 7(6): the English and French versions of this provision do not align, as the English version refers to the “body core” while the reference in the French version is limited to the thorax. An amendment to the French version will replace “à la cage thoracique” with “au tronc du corps.”
- Paragraph 7(7)(c): the English and French versions of this provision are currently not aligned. The word “commercial” will be added to the French version to better align with the English version.
- Paragraph 8(1)(d): the English and French versions of this provision are currently not aligned. The word “gaze” will be removed from the French version to better align with the English version.
- Section 14: the word “properly” will be removed from this section in the English version and ’’bien’’ will be removed from the French version to avoid ambiguity, as suggested by the SJCSR.
- Paragraph 18(b): the term “endorsed propulsion method” is unclear since the method is not defined within the Regulations. The following wording will be added to improve clarity in both the English and French versions of this provision: “as chosen by the enterprise or specified on the swift-water rescue certificate.” The intent is to clarify what Transport Canada means by “endorsed propulsion method,” which is not an endorsed method determined or defined by Transport Canada, but rather something that is either part of the company’s operating procedures or that is mentioned on the certificate held by the individual.
- Paragraph 18(c): the word “contents” was found to be confusing by the SJCSR. The use of this word will be replaced by “description,” as suggested by the SJCSR.
2. Correction of ship classification names and addition of classification descriptions
Arctic Shipping Safety and Pollution Prevention Regulations
Three amendments to the Arctic Shipping Safety and Pollution Prevention Regulations will be introduced to correct ship classification names. In addition, for clarity, a description of a classification will be added. These amendments were developed in collaboration with Natural Resources Canada.
- The ice classes in column 2 of Schedule 2 in the English and French versions of the regulatory text will be corrected. The classification notations have changed since the Regulations came into force in 2017. The notations need to be corrected to reflect the correct classification notations of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS):
- Item 1 (Type A): Ice Class IAA
- Item 2 (Type B): Ice Class IA
- Item 3 (Type C): Ice Class IB
- Item 4 (Type D): Ice Class IC
- Item 5 (Type E): Below Ice Class IC
- Minor corrections will be made in two columns of item 1 of Schedule 2 in the English and French versions of these Regulations.
- In the title of column 6: remove “-GL” from the name, to reflect the new name of DNV.
- Column 6 (DNV): “Ice (1A*), ICE-1A* or E4” — add an asterisk after ICE-1A to reflect the current nomenclature used by DNV to reference levels of ship ice strengthening.
- Column 10 (LR): “Ice Class 1AS FS (+) or Ice Class 1AS FS” — the second plus sign needs to be removed.
- To increase clarity for stakeholders, a footnote after the table will be added regarding item 5 of Schedule 2 that reads: “Type E includes the identified ice class and any class below it, as well as vessels without an assigned class of ice strengthening.” This addition is required to make it clearer that Type E vessels include vessels without assigned ice strengthening.
3. Repealing of provisions
Load Line Regulations
One amendment to the Load Line Regulations will be introduced to repeal a reference to a non-existent subsection of the Regulations. This minor drafting issue was identified by Transport Canada’s Marine Safety and Security (TC MSS) Program in 2018.
- Subsection 6(2) currently reads “subject to subsection (3) and (4)”; however, there is no (and there has never been) subsection (4). Therefore, the reference to subsection (4) will be removed from the English and French versions of this provision.
4. Correction of minor errors
Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020
In order to correct drafting errors that were noticed after the Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020 were published in October 2020, two amendments are needed to those Regulations. One of the amendments will add a comma in a paragraph under section 204 of the French version to better align with the English version. The other amendment will reinstate a reference to vessels defined by subsection 204(1) for the exception set out in subsection 222(3) related to very high frequency (VHF) radio installation capable of digital selective calling (DSC). The reference to subsection 204(1) was removed by mistake.
- Section 204: A comma will be added in the French version of the Regulations between A1 and “à l’intérieur” to better align with the English version. Without the comma, it is unclear that this is an enumeration.
- Subsection 222(3): Add a reference to subsection 204(1), in addition to paragraph 207(1)(b), in the English and French versions of these Regulations. This exemption existed in the previous Navigation Safety Regulations and was included in the regulatory text that was prepublished in the Canada Gazette, Part I. It was removed by mistake when the regulatory text was revised before its publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II, as it was suggested to merge text from a schedule with subsection 222(3) to improve clarity. The mention of subsection 204(1) was missed in the text added to subsection 222(3). TC MSS is still applying the exemption to the vessels defined in subsection 204(1), as there was no intention to remove it from the Regulations. Making the correction will reflect the reality of the current enforcement, where vessels defined in subsection 204(1) continue to be exempted, as they were under the previous Regulations.
5. Update of references
Collision Regulations
One amendment will be made to the Collision Regulations to update the references to Notice(s) to Shipping to Navigational Warnings, which are the official warnings that have been used by the Canadian Coast Guard since January 2019.
References to “Notice(s) to Shipping” will be replaced by “Navigational Warnings” under subsection 1(1) and section 7 (including the section title), and under paragraph 6(c) and paragraph 10(m) of Schedule 1 of the Regulations.
Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) owns and maintains a series of publications such as the Canadian Sailing Directions. The Canadian Sailing Directions is a tool for mariners in planning and assisting in navigation because they provide information that cannot be shown on a chart. On May 1, 2022, DFO officially changed the publication name from “Sailing Directions” to “Canadian Sailing Directions.” In accordance with this change, the reference to ’’Sailing Directions’’ in the Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020, will be replaced by “Canadian Sailing Directions.”
One-for-one rule and small business lens
The one-for-one rule does not apply to these amendments, as there is no change in administrative costs or burden to businesses.
Analysis under the small business lens determined that this initiative will not impact small businesses in Canada.
Implementation, compliance and enforcement, and service standards
These amendments come into force on the day they are published in the Canada Gazette, Part II.
Contact
Sean Rogers
Director
Legislative, Regulatory and International Affairs (AMSR)
Marine Safety and Security
Transport Canada
330 Sparks Street, Tower C, 11th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0N5
Email: MSSRegulations-ReglementsSSM@tc.gc.ca