Canada Shipping Act

The Act also establishes the legal regime that governs naval accidents in Canada's waters, as well as marine pollution of any seafaring vessels.

In 1878, the Canadian government passed legislation attempting to repeal the applicability of Section 23 of the British Merchant Shipping Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict.

[1] In 1910 the Marquess of Crewe pointed out significant divergence of the Canadian shipping industry from adherence to imperial law.

[1] In the 1920s, the imperial shipping regime decentralized, and after the Balfour Declaration in 1926, and the ensuing Statute of Westminster, Canada was no longer formally subservient to British legislation.

Even prior to the Statute, Canada pursued a new legislative agenda regarding shipping, at a 1929 subconference of the Imperial Conference.

[2] This led to the creation of the domestic Canada Shipping Act, introduced by Alfred Duranleau and first passed in 1934.

The Act also creates an obligation for physicians or optometrists to report to the Minister of Transport any person whose health condition would constitute a danger to marine safety.

[9] The Act establishes the power of the Minister to prevent movement of a ship from a restricted navigational zone, to appoint traffic service providers and require communications equipment.

[11] The Minister is obligated to detain unsafe vessels, and may furthermore exclude or expel ships from Canadian waters if they are believed to be in contravention of international conventions to which Canada has agreed.

[14][15] In 2015, the MV Marathassa, a grain carrier, spilled thousands of litres of fuel into Vancouver's English Bay.

A sepia image of a white man with dark hair, an bushy moustache and goatee. In a heavy suit jacket and wearing a cravat, he looks to the distance, off to the side, showing his left cheek.
Alfred Duranleau, who first introduced a comprehensive domestic shipping act.
A Coast Guard corvette, in red, sits docked and flying Canadian naval ensigns
The Canadian Coast Guard, one of multiple agencies empowered to enforce the Act
A cargo ship is pictured from the front, with water being pumped out of the sides of the ship, near the top railing.
Pumping of ballast water, a vector for environmental contamination, and regulated under the Act.