Our PCOC is valid is in the U.S.A

Dec 5, 2024

At our recent conference in Trois Rivieres the question of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) approval of our Boating Basics course which leads to our PCOC came up a few times.
 
One member sent the question direct to NASBLA and at first they indicated that CanBoat did not have a course approved by NASBLA. On further review they did clearly determine that Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons does in fact have formal approval for our Boating Basics course and approval letter written by Tom Hayward from NASBLA in July of 2021. That approves our course until the end of this year at which time we will have to re-apply. Our approval will be extended until we can submit the application and they can conduct the approval process. This will probably take until mid 2025 so our course will remain approved until the re-approval process is complete.
 
Of note: official approval from NASBLA allows us to put their approval logo on our card. This approval comes with official recognition from the U.S. Coast Guard and we can also put that on our card which we have done for many years now.
 
I hope that this now puts the question to rest and makes clear our NASBLA approval. I would also point out that to date Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons is the only Canadian PCOC Approved Provider that has submitted their PCOC course for official NASBLA approval. NASBLA represents boating law administrators for all of the U.S. States and territories. Recreational boating laws are the responsibility of each individual State and to date we have never been aware that any State has not recognized our card as soon as they see the NASBLA approval and U.S. Coast Guard recognition on the back of our PCOC.
 
John Gullick,
CanBoat / NautiSavoir Manager of Special Programs