Abandoned Boats Program
Location: National
Issue/Source: Abandoned Boats Program / TRAN
Date: March 2024
Suggested Responses
- The Abandoned Boats Program provides grant and contribution funding to assist in the removal of abandoned and/or wrecked small boats posing a hazard in Canadian waters. Since 2017, the Program has invested $6.4 million in the removal of 189 vessels.
- On January 16, 2024, up to $1.6 million in additional funding was announced for eight projects which will assess, remove, and dispose of 34 abandoned and wrecked vessels in Canadian waters.
- Abandoned and wrecked vessels can be harmful to the environment and to public safety. Through Canada's Oceans Protection Plan, the federal government made abandoning your vessel illegal in Canada and it is taking action to remove abandoned and wrecked vessels from our waters and protect our coasts and waterways. The Abandoned Boats Program is part of the Government of Canada’s National Strategy to Address Wrecked and Abandoned Vessels, which introduced multiple measures to reduce the number of abandoned and wrecked vessels that pose hazards.
If Pressed
- The organizations receiving funding under the last call for proposals and announced on January 16, 2024, are:
- Salish Sea Industrial Services
- Rugged Coast Research Society
- Gibsons Marine Transport Ltd.
- Freedom Diving Systems Ltd.
- Vancouver Fraser Port Authority
- TS'IL SDANG
Background Information
- The Program was launched in 2017 and is a key component of the Oceans Protection Plan to protect coastlines, waterways, and marine ecosystem. It does this by providing funding directly to Indigenous and coastal communities, organizations, and ports/harbours to remove and dispose of high priority abandoned vessels and wrecks that are posing local environmental, health and safety and economic risks. These problem vessels can be found in all Canadian waters but are most prevalent along the west coast.
- The Program has two key components:
- The assessment and removals component funds boat removal assessments, and the permanent removal and disposal of abandoned and/or wrecked small boats.
- The education, awareness, and research component funds public education projects aimed at raising awareness about boat owner responsibility, including proper end-of-life management practices, and research on environmentally responsible boat design and recycling of end-of-life boats.
- Following an initial allocation of $5.6 million in 2017, Budget 2022 provided an additional $4.3 million over three years, including $3.7 million under the Assessment & Removal component.
- To be eligible under the Program, applicants must obtain regulatory authorization to take possession of a vessel, from Transport Canada’s Navigation Protection Program group. This group is responsible for determining whether a vessel meets the definition of being abandoned or wrecked under the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act.