Recreational Boating Safety Courses

If you do not yet have a PCO Card, regardless of your age or boating experience it is always a good idea to take a boating safety course or at least home study course material before challenging a test for your PCOC. Taking a course will better prepare you for a fun and safe time on the water. Approved courses include such topics as:

• Getting ready for a trip.
• Required Safety equipment.
• Regulations and rules of the road for boaters.
• Aids to navigation.
• Sharing the waterways and
• Emergency procedures

For a list of Approved Providers who offer both approved courses and tests go to www.boatingsafety.gc.ca or contact Transport Canada.

If you already have a PCO card it is always a good idea to get additional boating safety education especially if you only challenged a PCOC test and did not take a course or home study. There are all types of different and interesting courses available, both theoretical and practical depending on the type of boat you operate. Sailors and power boaters can take practical courses offered by organizations like the Canadian Yachting Association (CYA) and some private organizations. They can also take theory courses offered by both CYA and the Canadian Power & Sail Squadrons (CPS). Courses offered include basic safety, boat handling and cruising, local and global weather, navigation and chart plotting, electronic navigation, offshore cruising and navigation, marine engine maintenance, trailering and more.

For a complete list of locations and available courses go to www.cps-ecp.ca and www.sailing.ca or Google Boating Safety Education.