Boating season is fast approaching, and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is reminding all private boaters of their entry and reporting obligations when navigating Canadian waters or entering Canada by boat.
Officials say understanding the reporting requirements will ensure a safe and enjoyable season on the water.
CBSA Superintendent Chantale Nicholls says it's really important that before anyone heads out into the water they have a solid understanding of their reporting requirements.
"Especially in these areas between Canadian and US waters. What are the requirements for the US, and what are the requirements for Canada? They're quite similar but they're not the same, we use different mechanisms of reporting. So understanding when you need to report and how you need to report is paramount to ensure that you're meeting your obligation in those international waters," she said.
Requirements vary depending on a person's itinerary, nationality and number of passengers onboard.
Given the Detroit River connects Windsor and Detroit, Nicholls says this is something everyone on both sides who have boats should know.
"I'm actually down at the other end in Niagara where we have some of those areas of our waterways that are the same, and people start to get a little bit nervous when they cross those international boundaries. However when it comes to when you're required to report, unless you anchor in the US side, moor, or make contact with another boat or make land you're not required to report back in."
Nicholls says all passengers onboard, regardless of their nationality, should have acceptable identification.
For any Canadian boaters who leave our shoreline and head over to the US making contact with the land, they have to phone into a telephone reporting centre upon returning to the Windsor side.
"There's a 1-800 number and you're going to speak directly with a CBSA officer who will naturally ask you all the important questions upon returning to Canada, and then advise you what your instructions are from there. So there may be a verification, there may not, but they will give you direction from there and it's absolutely imperative that you make that telephone call to report your re-arrival back to Canada," she said.
Failure to report to the CBSA, even if it is to refuel, may result in detention, seizure or forfeiture of the boat and potentially monetary penalties.
The minimum fine for failing to report to the CBSA upon entry to Canada is $1,000.
- with files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides