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It’s National Boat Safety Awareness Week

Laura Hampshire
May 25, 2021 | 8:23 AM
It's National Boat Safety Awareness Week


It is National Boat Safety Awareness Week.

The purpose of this initiative, managed by the CSBC (Canadian Safe Boating Council) and its partners, is to promote safe and responsible boating practices.

In Canada, 16 million people enjoy recreational boating. That number is going up, some say by large double-digit percentage increases (20, 30 even 40 %), driven the past and this coming year by Covid-19. Social distancing and restricted travel have been keeping people closer to home. Marine dealers across North America have reported empty shelves of boating safety gear and exhausted inventories of new and used boats as many people new to boating have made purchases and are taking to the water for the first time.

Although this ‘new’ to boating group has made boating safety information more critical than ever before, prior to COVID, boating safety was still an important communication by boating safety educators and advocates to make boaters more aware of their roles and responsibilities to themselves, their passengers, other boaters and those on shore.

The CSBC Safe Boating Awareness Week messages this season are:

    1. Wear Your Lifejacket – Over 80% of Canadians who drown while boating were not wearing their lifejacket or not wearing it properly. There are so many choices for lifejackets / personal floatation devices on the market now, it is easy to pick one that suits your ‘boating style’ and is one that you are comfortable wearing all the time you are on the water.
    2. Boat Sober – Whether it’s prescription drugs, alcohol or cannabis, the use of intoxicants is both irresponsible and illegal. In some provinces, being convicted of impaired operation will also affect your automobile license.
    3. Be Prepared, You and Your Boat – Make sure you and your boat are up to your planned on-water activities. That means you are knowledgeable about your upcoming trip, your boat is properly equipped with the required and good to have safety equipment, the weather is suitable for the voyage, you have sufficient fuel and you have filed a trip plan. Plus, this is not all about you…it is important to keep in mind that by staying out of trouble you will not be putting pressure on rescue resources.
    4. Take a Boating Course – If you are operating a powered recreational vessel, you should have your Pleasure Craft Operator Card or some other proof of competency. But that is just as start, so consider taking some advanced courses. If your boating preference tends towards paddle, this is the perfect time to enroll in some on water training. Or if you are just starting out, log onto and start your boating in a paddle craft responsibly. The site is not a substitute for on water training, but it does provide a great first step in education about paddle craft.
    5. Be Aware of Cold-Water Risks – Cold water can severely impact your ability to swim or even just stay afloat. Even the best swimmers will feel the effects of a sudden cold-water immersion. No matter your swimming ability, best chance of surviving an accidental cold-water immersion is to wear your lifejacket!

For additional information on boating safety, visit BetterBoater.ca or STARTBoating.ca

For more details on Safe Boating Awareness Week, please click here.

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