Do you have your Ontario Boating License?

Planning on spending time on the water this summer?

Well, what you might not know is that you must have a valid Ontario boating license in order to operate a boat or even a canoe!

Here are some points to consider:

• The boating exam can be taken online.

• The questions are all based on a multiple choice pattern.

• A person needs to score 75% marks to clear the boat license exam. Scoring these many marks is easy considering the nature of the exam

There is a 44-page, safe boating manual and a 50-page safe boating guide from Transport Canada. Now children under 12 can only operate boats of 10 horsepower or less by themselves and only if they have an operating card. Interesting enough, children 12 to 16 can operate boats up to 40 horsepower by themselves. Anything more powerful and they must be accompanied by an adult.
Regulations also restrict the use of personal watercraft to persons 16 and older.

Recreational boating is a favorite pastime in Canada with between seven and nine million people enjoying Canadian waterways each year.  Sadly, not every boating excursion is a return trip: Over 200 boating fatalities occur each year along with an estimated 6,000 non-fatal accidents - most of them preventable.

The general public and pleasure boaters expressed concern that anyone of any age could operate a watercraft without having any prior boating experience. The Pleasure Craft Operator Card regulations are intended to reduce the number of boating related accidents and fatalities.

So now that you know some safety guidelines why not take the to open waters and enjoy a peaceful and relaxing summer on your boat or maybe even a friend's boat!