The documentation for registering a vessel is complex. If you haven’t applied for vessel registration before, we recommend you read the following in full before you start.
Application for Registry form
Vessel name (Section A)
Provide 3 choices of the vessel name, in order of preference.
For safety reasons, each registered vessel must have a unique name. This needs to be the case when the name is said aloud, especially over the radio. For example, “Easy Living” and “EZ Livin” sound too much alike for both names to be approved.
Check to see if the name you want is already being used
The name you choose:
- must be unique, even when said aloud
- can’t use a registered trademark
- can’t be a prohibited mark
- can’t be confused with a distress signal
- can’t include vessel acronyms, for example, “SV” for sailing vessel, or “FV” for fishing vessel
- can include an article such as “the”, “le”, “la”, “l’”, though we don’t consider this when approving a vessel name (for example, “THE HAPPY DOLPHIN” is the same as “HAPPY DOLPHIN”)
You must provide an authorization letter, if you are using the name of:
- a famous Canadian person
- a city or town in Canada
Port of registry (Section A)
Choose a port of registry in one of the following provinces or territories:
Newfoundland and Labrador
- St. John's
Prince Edward Island
- Charlottetown
Nova Scotia
- Digby
- Halifax
- Liverpool
- Lunenburg
- Pictou
- Port Hawkesbury
- Shelburne
- Sydney
- Weymouth
- Yarmouth
New Brunswick
- Bathurst
- Caraquet
- Chatham
- Grand Manan
- Moncton
- St. Andrews
- Saint John
Quebec
- Cap-aux-Meules
- Chicoutimi
- Gaspé
- Montréal
- Québec
- Sorel
- Trois-Rivières
Ontario
- Belleville
- Brockville
- Chatham
- Collingwood
- Cornwall
- Goderich
- Hamilton
- Kenora
- Kingston
- Midland
- Nanticoke
- Ottawa
- Owen Sound
- Peterborough
- Port Colborne
- Port Dover
- Prescott
- St. Catharines
- Sarnia
- Sault Ste-Marie
- Thunder Bay
- Toronto
- Wallaceburg
- Windsor
Manitoba
- Winnipeg
Saskatchewan
- Prince Albert
Alberta
- Edmonton
British Columbia
- Nanaimo
- New Westminster
- Prince Rupert
- Port Alberni
- Vancouver
- Victoria
Yukon
- Dawson
- Whitehorse
Northwest Territories
- Hay River
- Yellowknife
Nunavut
- Iqaluit
You can change your vessel’s port of registry.
Details of each owner (Section C)
Provide the name and address of each owner.
Not everyone can own a registered vessel in Canada. Vessels may be owned by:
- a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
- a Canadian corporation
- a foreign corporation
- a Canadian government (provincial or federal)
Learn more about who may own vessels registered in Canada
Ownership of shares
The ownership of a vessel is divided into 64 shares, which can be owned jointly or split individually when there is more than 1 owner.
Supporting documentation
Evidence of ownership
All documents must be in either English or French or a certified translation. Be sure to include a copy of the document in its original language, along with the certified translation.
| If your vessel was… | Send in this documentation |
|---|---|
|
Newly built in Canada |
If not, we also need all the intervening Bills of Sale showing the complete sequence of title up to you |
|
Newly built in a foreign country |
|
|
Foreign-owned |
|
|
Canadian-built, always Canadian-owned |
|
|
Foreign-registered or foreign-documented |
Deletion Certificate or an Abstract or Transcript of Registry issued by the foreign registry, proving the foreign registry is closed and is free and clear of encumbrances |
|
Other |
Contact the Vessel Registration Office for guidance if none of the above-noted scenarios apply to your vessel |
Appointing a representative
If the vessel is owned by more than 1 owner or by a foreign corporation, complete and send in Form 14 - Appointment of Authorized Representative [PDF, 35 KB] form.