It was a familiar refrain.
Standing at any boat show in the first years of this decade, working at a booth where Pleasure Craft Operator Card testing was offered, you would often hear two phrases: “I’ll be dead before I need the card,” or its weaker cousin; “I won’t be boating by then.”
It seems the folks who were saying these things are stubborn indeed.  That’s because that as of December 31, 2007, the latest date for which accurate figures are available, only 1.5 million Canadians (of the estimated 4 million who need one) have acquired their operator’s card since the requirement was introduced in 1999.
According to Maryse Durette, spokesperson for Transport Canada, by the end of September this year, somewhere between two and four million more Canadians will be literally scrambling to get their cards!
So about 2.5 million Canadians will have to acquire their PCOC card before they can legally hit the water in the spring of 2010.
The reason for the rush is simple.  EVERYONE who operates a boat of any size with an engine of any size must have their PCOC card to operate their boat as of September 15, 2009.
Introduced at the Toronto International Boat Show in 1999, the Pleasure Craft Operator Card program was designed to ensure all power boaters have a least a minimum amount of safety knowledge before they leave the dock. The knowledge ranges from rules of the road, to navigation buoys, to basic weather, to basic terminology and more. There are 149 specific points that each operator must learn to pass a 36-question multiple choice test.
A ten-year phase-in period was included with specific deadlines based on age or boat size, to provide an easy transition and to allow the marketplace to handle the estimated five to six million boaters in Canada who would be seeking the card.
The program had been debated in safety circles for more than a decade before it was introduced.  According to statistics, some 200 recreational boaters’ lives were lost each year leading up to 1999 in “incidents,” on the water. Many of those deaths were easily preventable. In the years leading up to the legislation, small boat owners – folks who didn’t necessarily consider themselves boaters, but yet used their boats in their recreational pursuits such as hunting and fishing – were in particular danger because they didn’t have some of the basic knowledge to protect themselves and their passengers.
Falls overboard from small boats often led to drowning because operators weren’t aware that they shouldn’t stand up in small boats and should wear lifejackets to help prevent drowning. And they severely discounted the effects of cold water.
With 1.5 million boaters now certified, Durette notes that on average there are 25% fewer deaths annually – about 150 deaths on Canadian waters each year - out of the approximately 6,000 reported incidents.
Of course, along with the new regulations came better enforcement and as has been mentioned in this column in the past, there is nothing that helps make people compliant like parking a police cruiser by the side of the highway or a placing a police boat on the water.  In addition, enforcement officials were given new tools that allowed them to write “tickets” on the water, much like traffic tickets.
While the government cannot legislate common sense, they can legislate basic, common knowledge so that the boater who is doing something wrong is at the very least aware that they are doing something wrong. 
The basic requirements for boaters to acquire their cards haven’t changed since they were introduced in 1999, but there have been changes in the regulations for providers – the companies and organizations that offer the courses and tests.  Today there are multiple ways for boaters to acquire their cards. From classroom courses that include tests, to on-line exams, providers have made it easy and convenient for recreational boaters.
You can learn the basic knowledge on your own by purchasing a book or looking up the information and then simply locate a provider to challenge the test.  The Office of Boating Safety maintains a list of certified providers on the internet.  Visit http://www.tc.gc.ca/marinesafety/debs/obs/courses/pcoc/cp-list.asp . It is important to note that the card is good for life and the fee you pay is not going to the government. The fee goes to the independent business owner or organization for administering and providing the course, test and accompanying paperwork.
This winter, after you have made the rounds of the boat shows and finished planning for the new 2009 season, take some time and book yourself and everyone else in your family who operates your boat(s) into a course or an on-line exam.
With the rush that is expected this spring and summer, it’ll pay to get this done as early as possible.  The fee you pay the certified provider who’s helping you get compliant, is far less than the fee you’ll pay the enforcement officer for non-compliance.  Besides, it’s the law.

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