From: Transport Canada
Canada is a signing member of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). This is a treaty administered by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) concerning the safety of commercial vessels.
The Canadian Supplement to the SOLAS Convention provides a set of mandatory Canadian-specific requirements related to SOLAS.
SOLAS
The main objective of the SOLAS Convention is to set out standards for the construction, equipment, and operation of commercial vessels. The current version of the treaty is SOLAS, 1974, as amended.
There are two ways to purchase a copy of SOLAS:
- visit the International Maritime Organization - Documents and Resources web page
- contact one of the Canadian distributors of IMO documents
Canadian Supplement to SOLAS
This document is intended to provide Canadian-specific requirements related to the construction, equipment, and inspection requirements of SOLAS. The Canadian Supplement to the SOLAS Convention applies to passenger vessels of more than 24 metres and cargo vessels of more than 500 gross tonnage.
Any provisions of SOLAS which are not specifically excluded by the Canadian Supplement must be applied to Canadian commercial vessels.
The Canadian Supplement to the SOLAS Convention (TP 15211) may be viewed online or the publication may be purchased from Transport Canada.