Coasting Trade Act (S.C. 1992, c. 31)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Coasting Trade Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) In this Act,

  Agency

  Agency means the Canadian Transportation Agency; (Office)

  British entity

  British entity means

  • (a) a corporation that is incorporated in the territory of the United Kingdom, or

  • (b) a trust, partnership, joint venture or other association that is formed in the territory of the United Kingdom; (entité britannique)

  Canadian entity

  Canadian entity means

  • (a) a corporation that is incorporated in Canada, or

  • (b) a trust, partnership, joint venture or other association that is formed in Canada; (entité canadienne)

  Canadian ship

  Canadian ship means a Canadian vessel, as defined in section 2 of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, in respect of which all duties and taxes imposed under the Customs Tariff and the Excise Tax Act have been paid; (navire canadien)

  Canadian waters

  Canadian waters means the inland waters within the meaning of section 2 of the Customs Act, the internal waters of Canada and the territorial sea of Canada; (eaux canadiennes)

  CETA

  CETA has the same meaning as Agreement in section 2 of the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act; (AÉCG)

  coasting trade

  coasting trade means

  • (a) the carriage of goods by ship, or by ship and any other mode of transport, from one place in Canada or above the continental shelf of Canada to any other place in Canada or above the continental shelf of Canada, either directly or by way of a place outside Canada, but, with respect to waters above the continental shelf of Canada, includes the carriage of goods only in relation to the exploration, exploitation or transportation of the mineral or non-living natural resources of the continental shelf of Canada,

  • (b) subject to paragraph (c), the carriage of passengers by ship from any place in Canada situated on a lake or river to the same place, or to any other place in Canada, either directly or by way of a place outside Canada,

  • (c) the carriage of passengers by ship from any place situated on the St. Lawrence River northeast of the Saint Lambert lock or on the Fraser River west of the Mission Bridge

    • (i) to the same place, without any call at any port outside Canada, other than one or more technical or emergency calls, or

    • (ii) to any other place in Canada, other than as an in-transit call, either directly or by way of a place outside Canada,

  • (d) the carriage of passengers by ship from any place in Canada other than from a place to which paragraph (b) or (c) applies

    • (i) to the same place, without any call at any port outside Canada, other than one or more technical or emergency calls, or

    • (ii) to any other place in Canada, other than as an in-transit call, either directly or by way of a place outside Canada,

  • (e) the carriage of passengers by ship

    • (i) from any place in Canada to any place above the continental shelf of Canada,

    • (ii) from any place above the continental shelf of Canada to any place in Canada, or

    • (iii) from any place above the continental shelf of Canada to the same place or to any other place above the continental shelf of Canada

    where the carriage of the passengers is in relation to the exploration, exploitation or transportation of the mineral or non-living natural resources of the continental shelf of Canada, and

  • (f) the engaging, by ship, in any other marine activity of a commercial nature in Canadian waters and, with respect to waters above the continental shelf of Canada, in such other marine activities of a commercial nature that are in relation to the exploration, exploitation or transportation of the mineral or non-living natural resources of the continental shelf of Canada; (cabotage)

  continental shelf

  continental shelf[Repealed, 1996, c. 31, s. 66]

  CUKTCA

  CUKTCA has the meaning assigned by the definition Agreement in section 2 of the Canada–United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement Implementation Act; (ACCCRU)

  enforcement officer

  enforcement officer means a person designated pursuant to section 12 to be an enforcement officer for the purposes of this Act; (agent de l’autorité)

  EU entity

  EU entity means

  • (a) a corporation that is incorporated in the territory of the European Union, or

  • (b) a trust, partnership, joint venture or other association that is formed in the territory of the European Union; (entité de l’Union européenne)

  foreign ship

  foreign ship means a ship other than a Canadian ship or a non-duty paid ship; (navire étranger)

  in-transit call

  in-transit call means any call, other than an emergency or technical call, by a ship at any place where passengers go ashore temporarily but who re-board the vessel before the ship leaves that place or are transported by land to another location to re-board the same ship; (escale de transit)

  licence

  licence means a document, issued pursuant to this Act, authorizing a foreign ship or a non-duty paid ship to engage in the coasting trade while in Canadian waters or in waters above the continental shelf of Canada; (licence)

  master

  master, in relation to a ship, has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001; (capitaine)

  non-duty paid ship

  non-duty paid ship means a ship registered in Canada in respect of which any duties and taxes under the Customs Tariff and the Excise Tax Act have not been paid; (navire non dédouané)

  owner

  owner, in relation to a ship, means the person having for the time being, either by law or by contract, the rights of the owner of the ship with respect to its possession and use; (propriétaire)

  resident in Canada

  resident in Canada has the meaning given to that expression by section 250 of the Income Tax Act; (résident du Canada)

  ship

  ship has the same meaning as vessel in section 2 of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001; (navire)

  technical call

  technical call means any call, other than an emergency call or an in-transit call, that is for a purpose other than the embarking or disembarking of passengers; (escale technique)

  territory of the European Union

  territory of the European Union means the territory in which the Treaty on European Union, done at Maastricht on February 7, 1992, and the Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, done at Rome on March 25, 1957 — renamed the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union — as they are amended from time to time, are applicable, in accordance with the conditions specified in those treaties; (territoire de l’Union européenne)

  territory of the United Kingdom

  territory of the United Kingdom means a territory referred to in Article 1.3, subparagraph (b) of CETA as incorporated by reference in CUKTCA. (territoire du Royaume-Uni)

• Marginal note:Meaning of place

  (2) For the purpose of the definition coasting trade in subsection (1), a place above the continental shelf of Canada includes any ship, offshore drilling unit, production platform, artificial island, subsea installation, pumping station, living accommodation, storage structure, loading or landing platform, dredge, floating crane, pipelaying or other barge or pipeline and any anchor, anchor cable or rig pad used in connection therewith.

• Marginal note:Delegation

  (3) Any power, duty or function of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness or the Minister of Transport under this Act may be exercised or performed by any person authorized by that Minister, as the case may be, to do so and, if so exercised or performed, shall be deemed to have been exercised by that Minister.

Regulation of Foreign Ships and Non-duty Paid Ships

Marginal note:Prohibition

• 3 (1) No foreign ship or non-duty paid ship shall, except in accordance with a licence, engage in the coasting trade.

• Marginal note:Application

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of any foreign ship or non-duty paid ship that is

  • (a) used as a fishing vessel, as defined by the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act, in any activity governed by that Act and that does not carry any goods or passengers other than goods or passengers incidental to any activity governed by that Act;

  • (b) engaged in any ocean research activity commissioned by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans;

  • (c) operated or sponsored by a foreign government that has sought and received the consent of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to conduct marine scientific research;

  • (c.1) engaged in seismic activities in waters above the continental shelf of Canada that are in relation to the exploration for mineral or non-living natural resources of the continental shelf of Canada;

  • (d) engaged in salvage operations, except where such operations are performed in Canadian waters; or

  • (e) engaged, with the approval of a person designated as a pollution response officer under section 174.1 of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, in activities related to a marine pollution emergency, or to a risk of a marine pollution emergency.

• Marginal note:Repositioning of empty containers

  (2.1) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of carriage between one place in Canada and another, without consideration, of empty containers that are owned or leased by the ship’s owner and of any ancillary equipment that is necessary to ensure the safety, security, containment and preservation of the goods that may be carried in those containers.

• Marginal note:Dredging activities

  (2.11) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of dredging activities — other than dredging activities that are provided under an agreement with Her Majesty in right of Canada or with an entity that is listed either in Annex 19-1, as amended from time to time, of Chapter Nineteen of CETA or in Annex 19-1 of Chapter Nineteen of CETA as incorporated by reference in CUKTCA — carried out by

  • (a) a non-duty paid ship whose owner is a Canadian entity, an EU entity or a British entity; or

  • (b) a foreign ship whose owner is a Canadian entity, an EU entity or a British entity and that is registered in a register other than

    • (i) the Canadian Register of Vessels, or

    • (ii) a register referred to in paragraph (2.2)(a) or (b) or (2.21)(a) or (b).

• Marginal note:Dredging activities — EU registers

  (2.2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of dredging activities — other than dredging activities that are provided under an agreement with Her Majesty in right of Canada or with an entity that is listed in Annex 19-1, as amended from time to time, of Chapter Nineteen of CETA — carried out by a foreign ship whose owner is a Canadian entity, an EU entity or an entity that is under Canadian or European control and that is registered in

  • (a) the first, or domestic, register of a member state of the European Union; or

  • (b) a second, or international, register of a member state of the European Union.

• Marginal note:Dredging activities — UK registers

  (2.21) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of dredging activities — other than dredging activities that are provided under an agreement with Her Majesty in right of Canada or with an entity that is listed in Annex 19-1 of Chapter Nineteen of CETA as incorporated by reference in CUKTCA — carried out by a foreign ship whose owner is a Canadian entity, a British entity or an entity that is under Canadian or British control and that is registered in

  • (a) the first, or domestic, register of the United Kingdom; or

  • (b) the second, or international, register of the United Kingdom, or the Gibraltar register.

• Marginal note:Feeder services — continual or single trip

  (2.3) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of

  • (a) the carriage of goods by a ship that is described in paragraph (2.2)(a) or (2.21)(a), from the port of Halifax — where the goods are loaded — to the port of Montreal, or vice versa, if that carriage is one leg of the importation of the goods into Canada; or

  • (b) the carriage of goods by the ship from the port of Montreal — where the goods are loaded — to the port of Halifax, or vice versa, if that carriage is one leg of the exportation of the goods from Canada.

• Marginal note:Feeder services — single trip

  (2.4) Subject to subsection (2.5), subsection (1) does not apply in respect of the carriage, by a ship that is described in paragraph (2.2)(b) or (2.21)(b), of goods in a container from the port of Montreal to the port of Halifax, or vice versa, if

  • (a) that carriage is one leg of the importation of the goods into or exportation from Canada; and

  • (b) the container is at least 6.1 metres in length and has an internal volume of at least 14 cubic metres, is designed for carrying goods more than once and by one or more modes of transportation, and does not have wheels or is not otherwise built for being driven or drawn.

• Marginal note:Subsequent coasting trade subject to subsection (1)

  (2.5) Once a ship has completed a carriage of goods as described in subsection (2.4), subsection (1) applies to the ship in respect of any such subsequent carriage of goods by the ship, until it departs from the exclusive economic zone of Canada or from the inland waters, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Customs Act, at a location where the inland waters are contiguous to the United States.

• Marginal note:Provision of information

  (2.6) Before a ship engages, without a licence, in any activities referred to in subsections (2.11) to (2.4) and for which the owner of the ship intends to rely on an exemption under any one of those subsections, the owner shall provide information to an enforcement officer, in the form and manner specified by the Minister, establishing that the ship meets the applicable conditions under any of subsections (2.11) to (2.21).

• Marginal note:Assistance in cases of distress

  (3) Nothing in this section precludes a foreign ship or a non-duty paid ship from rendering assistance to persons, ships or aircraft in danger or distress in Canadian waters.

• Marginal note:United States Wreckers Act

  (4) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of operations permitted by the United States Wreckers Act.

• Marginal note:DEW Sites

  (5) Subsection (1) does not apply to any ship that is owned by the Government of the United States and used for the sole purpose of transporting goods of Canadian or United States origin owned by the Government of the United States to supply Distant Early Warning Sites.

• Marginal note:Other laws apply

  (6) For greater certainty, any law of Canada that imposes safety or pollution prevention requirements applies to a foreign ship that is exempted from the application of subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Control

  (7) For the purposes of subsection (2.2), an entity is under Canadian or European control

  • (a) in the case of a third party entity that is a corporation, if securities of the corporation to which are attached more than 50% of the votes that may be cast to elect directors of the corporation are directly or indirectly held, otherwise than through a subsidiary or by way of security only, by or for the benefit of any of, or any combination of, the following individuals:

    • (i) a Canadian citizen,

    • (ii) a permanent resident as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, or

    • (iii) a national of a member state of the European Union; or

  • (b) in the case of a third party entity that is a trust, partnership, joint venture or other association, if an individual, or any combination of individuals, described in any of subparagraphs (a)(i) to (iii) holds, directly or indirectly, but not through a subsidiary, an interest in the trust, partnership, joint venture or other association that entitles the individual or combination of individuals to receive more than 50% of its profits or more than 50% of its assets on dissolution. 

• Marginal note:Third party entity

  (8) For the purposes of subsection (7), third party entity means

  • (a) a corporation, other than an entity referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of either Canadian entity or EU entity, that is not incorporated under the law of the United States; or

  • (b) a trust, partnership, joint venture or other association, other than an entity referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of either Canadian entity or EU entity, that is not formed under the law of the United States.

• Marginal note:Control — CUKTCA

  (9) For the purposes of subsection (2.21), an entity is under Canadian or British control

  • (a) in the case of a third party entity that is a corporation, if securities of the corporation to which are attached more than 50% of the votes that may be cast to elect directors of the corporation are directly or indirectly held, otherwise than through a subsidiary or by way of security only, by or for the benefit of any of, or any combination of, the following individuals:

    • (i) a Canadian citizen,

    • (ii) a permanent resident as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, or

    • (iii) a national of the United Kingdom; or

  • (b) in the case of a third party entity that is a trust, partnership, joint venture or other association, if an individual, or any combination of individuals, described in any of subparagraphs (a)(i) to (iii) holds, directly or indirectly, but not through a subsidiary, an interest in the trust, partnership, joint venture or other association that entitles the individual or combination of individuals to receive more than 50% of its profits or more than 50% of its assets on dissolution.

• Marginal note:Third party entity — CUKTCA

  (10) For the purposes of subsection (9), third party entity means

  • (a) a corporation, other than an entity referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of either Canadian entity or British entity, that is not incorporated under the law of the United States; or

  • (b) a trust, partnership, joint venture or other association, other than an entity referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of either Canadian entity or British entity, that is not formed under the law of the United States.