Marine Medicals
Location: National
Issue/Source: Marine Medical Certificate Processing
Date: March 2024
Suggested Responses
- Transport Canada (TC) is committed to the promotion of a safe and secure, efficient, and environmentally responsible marine transportation system in Canada.
- The Department is also committed to meeting its service standard in the delivery of marine medical certificates and is actively working towards modernizing the Marine Medical Program.
- On average, 16,000 to 18,000 marine medical files are processed annually.
If Pressed
- Transport Canada (TC) is taking steps to modernize marine safety and security in Canada, which includes the digitalization of current seafarer files and certificates. This will help reduce the time required to review and process requests, as well as improve the delivery time of issuing certificates.
- The Department is also taking action to update legislation and regulations related to the Medical Examinations of Seafarers within the Proposed Marine Personnel Regulations, which are expected to be published in Canada Gazette Part I in Spring 2024.
- The proposed amendments will provide Marine Medical Examiners with the ability to issue certain medical certificates, as well as give them access to seafarer medical history in order to improve the quality of their assessments.
Background Information
- Under the Marine Personnel Regulations, a marine medical certificate applicant first applies to obtain or renew a provisional certificate from a Ministerially-designated Marine Medical Examiner.
- The Marine Medical Examiner conducts a medical assessment on a seafarer and issues a provisional certificate that is valid up to 6 months. The provisional certificate is then reviewed, and a certificate is issued to the seafarer. A certification issued by TC is categorized as either “fit” or “fit with limitations”, or the seafarer to be deemed “unfit”.
- Transport Canada (TC) is undertaking a major modernization project, which includes the digitalization of approximately 60,000 seafarer paper files and the adoption of digital solutions to facilitate the issuance of certificates by Marine Medical Examiners. This will give Marine Medical Examiners full access to the medical records of seafarers held by TC and enable them to submit reports electronically.