Canadian Coast Guard Marine
Services Fees Information Bulletin

Number Fifteen
December 21, 1998

This bulletin is provided to inform the greater marine community on developments affecting the Canadian Coast Guard's Marine Services Fee (MSF) initiative. It is our intention that the bulletin will be issued as progress and developments warrant. Additions (or deletions) to the mailing list are invited.

Coast Guard's Icebreaking Services Fee (ISF) takes effect today, December 21, 1998.

A transit rate of $3,100 has been set to apply to all ships except fishing vessels, government ships, or pleasure craft. The fee is levied only during the ice season. The ice zone and ice season dates are: northeast coast of Nfld. (Jan. 15 -May 15); Lake Ontario (Dec. 21-24 and Apr. 1-15); all other waters and estuaries of the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence (Dec. 21 -Apr. 15).

The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, David Anderson announced on May 14 of this year that the fee would be introduced in time for the 1998 winter ice season. A proposal on the elements of a fee was first circulated for public comment on June 12 (see Issue #11). A revised proposal was circulated for comment on December 7th. Readers can refer to Issue #14 for the highlights of that proposal.

A number of comments on the proposed amendments were received during this latest consultation, resulting in the following modifications/clarifications to the application of the fee: 

• the 30-day period for which the cap of three chargeable transits will apply will be vessel-specific rather than fixed 30-day periods. The initial period will commence on the date of the vessel's first chargeable transit, rather than on December 21st .
• because transits between Montreal and Contrecoeur occur within the port boundary, they are not subject to the fee.
• any transit made along a route where the only icebreaking services available are ice routing and information services (no escort or channel maintenance) and these services are not necessary to transit that route, is not subject to the fee. These routes will be examined on a case-by-case basis.

The fee schedule can be viewed on the Internet at the Web address provided below. For those who do not have Internet access, copies of the schedule can be requested by calling the 1-800 number listed below.