Statement from Jim Laursen at Industry Canada.
“In 1999 we de-licensed marine and aeronautical and
entered into negotiations with the United States for a reciprocal
agreement for aircraft and boaters crossing the border into the USA, the
idea being that we would not require a license in either country.
Recently, in post 9/11 USA, other issues have taken the forefront and this
issue was relegated to the back burner for the time being and an agreement
was not reached.
As you are all aware, our exemption only applies in Canadian and
International waters. When a vessel or aircraft is in the sovereign
territory of any foreign administration, the provisions of the ITU apply,
which requires that all stations be licensed unless there is a treaty
between the administrations involved.
Since we do not have a treaty at this point in time, from this day
forward, we should advise our clients enquiring about travel into the USA
(air or marine) that they will require a license to fully comply with
international law. It may save someone’s holiday by explaining that in
these post 9/11 days of increasing uncertainty, you never know when zero
tolerance attitudes may surface and cause travelers grief if their paper
work is not all in order. It is fairly inexpensive to obtain and maintain
your Canadian licensing, and these days licensing, operators certificates
and passports are all considered very good things to have.”
If anyone has questions please contact
Jim Laursen
at Industry Canada.
|
1) You can renew a lapsed radio
licence provided it just lapsed this year (April 2004). If a licence is
unpaid / delinquent / cancelled, it is purged from the system in the fall,
and no record will remain. This likely means that lapsed licences will be
"renewable" for another few months before a new application is required.
2) An application for a new licence can be obtained from your local IC
office, a local supplier or via the web at the following address:
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf06053e.html
A list of district offices are available in RIC 66 at:
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/h_sf06073e.html
3) Short term licences are available but realistically, they are not
really the way to go. They are only available monthly and after a couple
of months cost the same as doing one yearly licence, (which is about $36),
also with the yearly licence, you only do the paperwork once.
The form to fill by us as pleasure craft is IC-2378: Application for a
Maritime Mobile Radio Station Licence for a Voluntarily Fitted Ship
They are still hopeful that we will have a reciprocal agreement with the
USA someday soon but more pressing matters are occupying their time right
now.It is Industry Canada's opinion that the licence is cheap assurance
when visiting "foreign" ports. "In these days of uncertainty and homeland
security issues... you never know when zero tolerance might pop up or and
over-zealous border/customs person might ruin your outing/holiday by
requesting a radio licences". |
