Safety on the Water

Boating is a fun and exciting way to enjoy time with friends and family. To ensure that your boating experience is enjoyable, it is important to practice safe boating practices. Here are three helpful ways to reduce risk while boating:

Wear the Equipment!

Make sure everyone in the boat is wearing, and is buckled into, an approved lifejacket or personal floatation device (PFD).

Drive Sober!

Alcohol and boating do not mix - in Ontario you can be charged and have your driver’s licence suspended with a 0.05 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC).

Get Trained!

Training gives you the knowledge to make smart choices when boating.

• Ontario Government
• Transport Canada
• Red Cross

Boaters caught drinking and boating in Ontario will face the same penalties as those for drinking and driving. Penalties include:

• 3, 7 or 30 day driver’s licence suspension if caught with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in the "warn" range (0.05 to 0.08), starting May 1, 2009. Drivers caught more than once face mandatory alcohol education and treatment programs and ignition interlock.
  
  For boaters exceeding a 0.08 BAC:

  Immediate 90-day Administrative Driver’s Licence Suspension (ADLS) for exceeding .08 BAC (or for refusing to provide a breath sample)

  If convicted under the Criminal Code, the boater’s driver’s licence can be suspended for one year up to a lifetime and:

  • Mandatory alcohol assessment, education or treatment, and follow-up
  • Ignition interlock condition on their driver’s licence for one year to up to a lifetime
  • Vehicle impoundment for driving while under suspension

  These penalties apply to anyone who is caught drinking and operating motorized and non-motorized vessels, including power boats, canoes, kayaks, jet-skis, sailboats, dinghies and other inflatable boats and rafts.

  Immediate 90-day Administrative Driver’s Licence Suspension (ADLS) for exceeding .08 BAC (or for refusing to provide a breath sample)

   

  If convicted under the Criminal Code, the boater’s driver’s licence can be suspended for one year up to a lifetime and:

   

  ·                Mandatory alcohol assessment, education or treatment, and follow-up

   

  ·                Ignition interlock condition on their driver’s licence for one year to up to a lifetime

   

  ·                Vehicle impoundment for driving while under suspension