WHAT IS A NON-PLEASURE CRAFT?
A non-pleasure or commercial craft is a vessel charging for service, including the carriage of passengers. In most cases it is easy to distinguish a non-pleasure craft from a pleasure craft based on its use. If you are profiting in any way by transporting cargo or passengers, you are operating a non-pleasure craft.
A fare does not have to be paid for a person to be considered a passenger. Any type of business relationship between you and the person on board, where you receive any form of payment or profit for the use of the vessel, even if not directly from the persons carried, makes your vessel a non-pleasure craft.
Passengers or Guests
The Canada Shipping Act makes a distinction between passengers and guests: non-pleasure craft carry passengers; pleasure craft carry guests. If a person is onboard your vessel for recreational reasons, he or she will be considered a guest. However, if that person is carried on your vessel to gain payment or for any object of profit, he or she is a passenger. If you are carrying one or more passengers, regardless of the frequency, your vessel is a commercial vessel, not a pleasure craft, and you will be required to comply with the rules and regulations governing non-pleasure craft carrying passengers.
If a person is voluntarily sharing expenses with you, such as the cost of fuel or rental costs, and the vessel is used for recreational purposes only, the person will be considered a guest and the vessel will be defined as a pleasure craft. However, the sharing of expenses cannot be used as a means of circumventing the law.
Chartered Vessel
A chartered vessel may or may not be a commercial vessel. A chartered vessel is a recreational vessel, if under the ship charter agreement, the charterer has complete possession and control of the entire vessel, including the right to appoint its master and crew, and the vessel is only used for recreational purposes.
Fishing Vessels
Small fishing vessels have their own regulations covering construction and inspection. While this booklet contains information of a general safety nature that can be applied to fishing vessels, the focus of this guide is small, non-pleasure vessels other than fishing vessels. Owners and operators of fishing vessels should consult the Small Fishing Vessel Inspection Regulations. The Small Fishing Vessel Safety Manual TP 10038 available on line and from Marine Safety Offices is a useful reference.
Examples of Non-Pleasure Craft (Commercial) and Pleasure Craft (Recreational)
Non-Pleasure Craft
 | Vessels transporting cargo for profit. |
| Vessels carrying passengers. |
| Vessels rented with a crew. |
| A guided charter fishing vessel. |
Pleasure Craft
| Privately owned vessels used for recreational purposes. |
| A privately owned vessel used to entertain your guests. |
| Rented vessels used for recreational purposes where friends are invited and contribute money for expenses. |
| Vessel used to transport persons or goods as a favour. |
| Vessel used as an essential means of transportation. |
| Vessel provided with a rented cottage. |
| Vessel occasionally chartered or rented out by owner to third parties for recreational purposes. Rental does not include crew. |
| A rental vessel operated by the individual renting the vessels (no crew), including the period when an ‘orientation skipper’ is on board. |
| Kayak, canoe, or personal watercraft (e.g., jet ski) lesson. |
