The Navigation Protection Program (NPP) helps keep Canada’s navigable waters open for transport and recreation. The program administers the Canadian Navigable Waters Act (CNWA), the Private Buoys Regulations (PBR) under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, and the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act (WAHVA).
Under the CNWA, a navigable water is any body of water, including a canal or a man-made waterway, that is used for travel or transport. This can be for business, recreation, or by Indigenous Peoples using their rights from the Constitution Act of 1982.
Navigable waters must have:
- Public access, either by land or water,
- Two or more owners along the water's edge if there's no public access, or
- The federal or provincial government as the only owner along the water's edge.
However, artificial irrigation channels or drainage ditches are not considered navigable waters. For more information about navigable waters, please consult Navigability Assessment Questions & Answers .
On this page
- Program responsibilities
- Canadian Navigable Waters Act
- Canada Shipping Act, 2001
- Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act
- Related links
- Related services and information
Program responsibilities
The Navigation Protection Program:
- approves and sets terms and conditions for works in navigable waters;
- manages obstructions in navigable waters;
- enforces the regulations for private buoys, (learn more about private buoys, PDF 1 MB);
- addresses irresponsible vessel management;
- provides authorization to people to salvage, remove, or dispose of abandoned boats;
- enforces rules against dewatering (removing water from) or depositing materials into navigable waters; and
- assesses navigable waters for additions to the schedule.
Review the Apply to the NPP webpage if you plan to construct, place, alter, remove, or decommission a work in, on, over, under, through, or across any navigable water in Canada.
Canadian Navigable Waters Act
The CNWA improves Transport Canada’s ability to protect the public’s right to navigate from physical impediments on bodies of water in Canada. This law ensures that these waters are kept safe and accessible for navigation.
Private Buoys Regulations
Buoys are critical navigation tools used to safely guide boaters through Canada’s vast network of navigable waters. Under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 (CSA, 2001), the Private Buoys Regulations (PBR) applies to all private buoys that are used in what are considered as navigable waters except those used to mark fishing gear, which are governed by standards of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Enforcement activities related to provisions of the PBR are conducted by Transport Canada.
Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act
The Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act (WAHVA) is a key measure to protect Canada’s waterways and marine ecosystem, under the Government of Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan.
Under WAHVA, the NPP monitors and enforces the laws against abandoning your boat in Canadian waters. The program is also responsible for the Receiver of Wreck for boats that do not have an owner. TC’s Abandoned Boats Program (ABP) provides funding to remove abandoned boats and wrecks that are hazards in Canadian waters. To qualify for ABP funding, applicants must first get authorization from the NPP to take possession of a boat.
Related links
- About the Canadian Navigable Waters Act
- Works on navigable waters in Canada
- Contact Navigation Protection Program and Receiver of Wreck
- About The Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act
- Navigable Waters Bridge Regulations
- Navigable Waters Work Regulations
- Small Craft Harbours Abandoned and Wrecked Vessels Removal Program (dfo-mpo.gc.ca)