There are many benefits of properly registering your vessel. All owners must register their boat in the Canadian Register of Vessels if any of the following applies to the boat:

• It is a commercial vessel with a gross tonnage of 15 or more;
• The boat will have a marine mortgage;
• It will have a reserved name;
• The vessel will travel outside of Canada.

Registering the vessel allows the owner to fly the Canadian flag on board the boat. That is likely the greatest and most fulfilling benefit of vessel registration.

The factors listed above demonstrate the other benefits of registering a vessel under the Canadian flag in the Canadian Register of Vessels.

Many people choose to finance the purchase of the vessel by taking out a marine mortgage. The vessel will need to be registered in order for the marine mortgage to be registered against the vessel. For this reason, the bank or another lender is unlikely to help you finance the purchase unless the vessel is registered.

At the same time, you should register your vessel if you want to have a reserved unique name for the vessel. Once you register your preferred name, no other person will be able to register a pleasure craft in Canada with the same name. See this post for more information on rules to follow when choosing a name for your vessel.

You should also register your vessel under the Canadian flag if you plan to travel on board your vessel outside of Canada’s jurisdiction. That way, you can ensure that in the event of any dispute, the vessel will be treated as a properly registered and Canadian flagged vessel.

Our team at Vessel Registration Canada can help you process your first-time Boat registration Canada. Please contact us in case you have any questions.

For assistance with registering a marine mortgage, please send us an email or click on this link to have us process the mortgage registration for you.