Transcript
Title on screen: Simon Boily, Marine Safety Inspector
I’m Simon Boily, Inspector at Transport Canada, Nautical Inspector for the Quebec region. When I was young, my father had a little recreational boat, and we spent our vacations out on the St. Lawrence, on the Great Lakes and some rivers. I loved it.
There was a moment that got me thinking. I met with a career counselor. That brought up certain professions, among others, a career in sailing. So I signed up with the Institut maritime. Since then, I’ve never left the marine field.
At the beginning, I was a sailor. I sailed a long time, several years overseas, on tankers. After that, I switched to a Canadian company headed for the North. It was a bulk carrier/ice-breaker with a bit of general cargo, it was very interesting. With my family growing, I didn’t want to go so far away or for so long. I wanted to find something that would let me stay more reliably at home—all the time, ideally.
So I’ve now been at Transport for five years. I was pleasantly surprised. We still cover lots of ground, and we do varied inspections and also exams for future sailors.
Being inspectors at Transport Canada leads us to visit foreign ships and Canadian ships to make sure they conform to the regulations. The standards we apply are international. My impression is that in Canada, we tend to be more rigorous in our application and our inspections. We’ll look at the whole vessel, its structure, that it’s ready to go to sea. We also look at the mechanical side, the navigation equipment, but there’s really a human aspect to the inspections we do. The role of inspectors regarding the crew makes a big difference. When they see that we’re also very concerned with quality of life and crew changes, that everything works well for the crew, they’re very happy to see what we’re doing and the attention we’re giving them.
If I was going to give advice to someone who wanted to get started in this field, it’s to register for school and give it a go.
I was pleasantly surprised by an office job at Transport Canada, which means that today, I’m still there.