Are you buying a boat in Canada and aren’t sure what the next step is? Did you recently purchase a vessel and are in the process of figuring out what to do? There’s an old saying that the best days of vessel ownership are the day you buy it and the day you sell it. (Of course, the days in between riding it out on the water can be quite enjoyable as well.) When you purchase it, you’ll have to make the right decision about whether to register or license it. We can help.
How Are You Going to Use the Boat?
This is one of the most important questions to ask yourself in terms of whether to register or get a license. Are you going to use it to have fun with family and friends, to go on boat rides, swimming, and the like? If so, then you’re going to want a “Pleasure Craft License.” Or, alternatively, are you going to use it to make money, utilizing the vessel in a commercial sense? If you plan on using it for commercial fishing, or to transport people and/or goods for money, then you’re going to want to “register” your vessel. It’s one or the other, you can’t do both.
Read more about buying a boat in Canada at National Vessel Registry Center, Corp.