Canadian boat licence (PCOC)
With a PCOC, you can operate a recreational motor-equipped boat in Canadian waters, including a boat with an electric motor, a personal watercraft or a sailboat with auxiliary power. For adults, the PCOC itself does not set a maximum boat length, engine power, offshore distance or daylight limit. It is not required for non-motorized boats or in Nunavut and Northwest Territories waters; youth, local operating and vessel-safety rules still apply.
Canada · Transport Canada
The knowledge test covers safety, boat-handling terms, legal duties, trip planning, equipment, collision avoidance, navigation aids and emergencies. Use this site to practise COLREG rules, IALA buoyage, lights and shapes, and sound signals; study the other syllabus areas with the official material.
Transport Canada: PCOC information ·
Who needs a PCOC
This guide is for recreational operators who need proof of competency to use a motor-equipped boat in Canadian waters. Eligible marine certificates may already be accepted; visitors and renters should check the separate rules that apply to them.
PCOC test topics
Free practice questions
Practice questions (with answers)
To which vessels do the COLREGs apply?
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Correct answer: C. All vessels on the high seas and connected navigable waters
Rule 1 states the COLREGs apply to all vessels upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels.
According to Rule 2, departure from the COLREGs is permitted when:
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Correct answer: B. It is necessary to avoid immediate danger
Rule 2(b) allows departure from the rules when necessary to avoid immediate danger.
A vessel under sail also being propelled by her engine is classified as:
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Correct answer: B. A power-driven vessel
Rule 3(c): a sailing vessel means any vessel under sail provided that propelling machinery, if fitted, is not being used.
A proper look-out must be maintained:
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Correct answer: C. At all times
Rule 5 requires every vessel to maintain a proper look-out at ALL times.
In IALA Region A, the port-hand mark colour is:
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Correct answer: B. Red, usually can-shaped
Region A: port-hand red, starboard-hand green. Region B: port-hand green, starboard-hand red. Interpret both in the charted conventional direction of buoyage.
The topmark of a West Cardinal mark is:
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Correct answer: C. Two cones point to point
Two separate black cones with their points facing each other. The cones must remain clearly separated.
You are entering a river where the chart shows the conventional direction of buoyage is upstream from the sea entrance. What should determine whether a lateral mark is port-hand or starboard-hand?
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Correct answer: C. The charted conventional direction of buoyage
Lateral marks are interpreted in the conventional direction of buoyage. The chart, not guesswork, determines which side is port-hand and which is starboard-hand.
You sight a cardinal mark with both cones pointing down and a light showing six quick flashes followed by one long flash. What is the safe action?
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Correct answer: C. Pass south of the mark
Two cones down and the 6+1 light rhythm identify a South Cardinal mark, meaning the safe water lies to the south of the mark.
How to get your PCOC
Choose a Transport Canada accredited provider and check its price, identification requirements, test arrangements and applicable time limit. A supervised in-person challenge test is available without a course, and you need at least 75% to pass the knowledge test. Online candidates must complete an approved study guide with at least 3 hours of content across at least 5 chapters and score 80% in each chapter quiz; you may retake the test only once per 24 hours, and 2 failed online knowledge-test attempts mean repeating the timed guide.