Transport Canada targets certain foreign vessels that have a record of not meeting safety standards and regulatory requirements.
Transport Canada works to keep substandard vessels from operating in Canadian waters by:
- reviewing past incident reports and the quality of vessels, as assessed by third parties such as foreign governments, pilots, and crew, and
- boarding and inspecting these vessels when they enter Canadian ports.
Canada has signed two international agreements that require members to ban substandard vessels from their ports to prevent unsafe vessels from trading in common waters:
- the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding covering the Asia-Pacific region
- the Paris Memorandum of Understanding covering the North Atlantic basin from North America to Europe, and the European coastal states
Read more about Transport Canada's Port State Control program for inspections.