The Government of Canada recognizes that wrecked and abandoned vessels can pose hazards to the environment, public health and safety, and local economies such as fishing and tourism industries.

Most owners are responsible and maintain and dispose of their vessels properly. However, the small percentage that are not responsible can create significant impacts on our coastal communities, with the burden for costly clean-up often falling on Canadian taxpayers.

In November 2016, the Government of Canada launched the $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan, to improve marine safety and responsible shipping, protect Canada’s marine environment and help advance Indigenous reconciliation.

A key element of the 2016 Oceans Protection Plan was the commitment to develop a National Strategy to address Canada’s wrecked and abandoned vessels. This comprehensive strategy, focused on prevention and removal of problem vessels.

This webinar will outline this strategy and update on progress, as well as provide information on ways the public can report vessels to responsible authorities. Presenter Donavan Jacobsen has been a manager for Transport Canada for six years in the area of Environmental Policy. This includes managing the teams responsible horizontal work in support of the Vessels of Concern file. Prior to working with Transport Canada, Donavan worked at Indigenous Services Canada in the areas of community infrastructure and economic development, and at Industry Canada on renewable energy industries.

This webinar begins at 7pm Pacific/ 9pm Central/ 11pm Atlantic Time. For more information and to register for this webinar, please follow this link.