NEWS

PILOTAGE REFORM: Next Steps to a Safe, Efficient Pilotage System in Canada

BY SARAH DOUGLAS, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS, CHAMBER OF MARINE COMMERCE

For the first time in over 45 years, Canada has made sweeping changes to its pilotage regime by passing new legislation overhauling the Pilotage Act.

In Canadian ports and other specific waterways, ships are mandated by law to have a specially-trained mariner called a pilot come on board to help with local navigation – this is called pilotage. The rationale is that this pilot will navigate the challenging areas where the ship’s crew may not have travelled often and know the potential hazards.

The pilotage system, however, had not been reformed in decades and the costs of pilotage services have been out of control. The Chamber of Marine Commerce was at the forefront, advocating for changes that would increase efficiency of the system, while maintaining the safety of the system. While a new law was passed, these new rules are not yet necessarily put into practice – the process of moving to a new, dynamic pilotage regime is expected to take place over the next few years, and will take place in a few phases.

So far, a few key reform elements are in place. For example, service contracts with pilot corporations must be free from subjects that are covered by the government’s regulatory powers. A brand-new purpose and principles clause in the new law will govern pilotage in Canada. This new language aims to make sure that pilotage services contribute to the safety of navigation, be provided in an efficient and cost-effective manner, that risk management tools be used effectively and that evolving technologies are taken into consideration. It also states that pilotage charges should be set at a level that keeps an authority self-sufficient. These purposes and principles will apply to all facets of Canada’s pilotage regime, and will be important as we move forward in overhauling all of the regulations in Canada that support pilotage.

Within the next year, we expect two more key aspects of the new pilotage regime to come into force. First, new provisions on oversight and enforcement of the Pilotage Act will be put in place, which will match enforcement provisions of similar laws in the marine sphere, like the Canada Marine Act or Canada Shipping Act. Second, new ways of setting pilotage charges will be put in place. Pilotage authorities will have to revamp the model they use to set charges, and they won’t have to go through a regulatory process to change their charges. While this model will be more flexible, we are keeping a close eye on it to

Pilotage Reform: Key Milestones

2019

• New Pilotage Act passed • New Purposes and Principles, governance changes in force

2020

• Oversight and Enforcement provisions to take effect • New pilotage charges system to take effect

23 ensure that authorities standardize their methodologies as much as possible so that pilotage charges are easy to understand, transparent and meet the self-sufficiency of the authority.

The biggest reform is going to take the longest - the major regulatory overhaul to the pilotage system is expected to take around two years. In many ways, this is not surprising. With Transport Canada taking the reins of regulatory control and the consolidation of different regulations for each authority under one banner, it will be complex to navigate.

The challenge will be to ensure that there are harmonized, national regulations that apply across the country when it comes to ensuring safe navigation. This will take a lot of work, and we believe that the purposes and principles of the Pilotage Act should guide these discussions.

It’s also important to keep this in mind as we explore the creation of a national certification system for pilotage to allow Canadian masters to pilot their own vessels. The system in place in the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority’s area is a good starting point, as it has a demonstrated safety record while increasing efficiency.

This won’t be an easy process because of the amount of overhaul required, but it an excellent opportunity to move forward to creating a pilotage system that maintains navigation safety, while allowing greater participation of all partners involved to ensure efficient service delivery. n