Canada has issued a bulletin on medical certificates, discharge books, and counter services

Transport Canada has issued a ship safety bulletin (SSB) on medical certificates, discharge books, and counter services.

Purpose

This Bulletin provides information on:

• Discharge books;
• Marine medical certificates;
• Counter services provided by Marine Safety and Security Transport Canada Centres (TCC).

Scope

This Bulletin applies to:

• Canadian Seafarers;
• Foreign seafarers working on Canadian-flagged vessels; and
• Authorized Representatives of Canadian-flagged vessels.

What you need to know

1. Marine Medical Certificates (MMC)

• a. Valid Medical Certificates

Transport Canada Marine Safety and Security (TCMSS) wishes to remind all seafarers subject to subsection 200(7) of the Marine Personnel Regulations, that they must have a valid marine medical certificate (MMC).

To that end, if your MMC is set to soon expire, Transport Canada recommends seeing a Transport Canada-designated Marine Medical Examiner at your earliest opportunity. Do not wait until the last minute.

See the link for the list of designated Marine Medical Examiners.

Remind your Marine Medical Examiner to send your information to Transport Canada as soon as possible.

• b. Expiry dates on MMCs

As of March 1, 2022, Transport Canada started issuing MMCs with two distinct expiry dates:

• An expiry date for seafarers working on board vessels subject to the International Convention on Standards of Training for Seafarers (STCW), and
• An expiry date for seafarers working on board Canadian vessels operating solely in Canadian domestic waters.

Please refer to these dates when planning to renew your MMC based on your current and anticipated needs. As a reminder, you can consult Ship Safety Bulletin 05/2022.

• c. Other Essential Information

When sending an e-mail request to Transport Canada’s Marine Medical Unit, please include your candidate number (CDN) and full name in the subject line and send it to TC.Marinemedicine-Medecinemaritime.TC@tc.gc.ca.

You must have a CDN before your marine medical examination is conducted.

This unique seafarer identifier is required by the marine medical examiner to complete your examination.

If you do not have a CDN, click on the link below and follow the instructions under “Obtain a candidate number”.

If you have received a letter from the TC Marine Medical Unit requesting additional required information to complete the review of your file, please provide all of the requested information as soon as possible to avoid certification delays.

Discharge Books and Testimonials of Sea Service

Marine Safety and Security Transport Canada Centres (TCC) have restarted issuing discharge books again.

Please contact your local TCC to apply for a Discharge Book. Testimonial of sea service forms for the bridge sector and machine sector are still readily available through the Transport Canada forms catalogue (Forms 82-0546 and 82-0666 respectively).

Counter Services update

Transport Canada has expanded the ability to deliver services digitally and has made some permanent changes to how they deliver their marine counter services, including:

• In-person services (e.g. written exams, issuance of discharge books, renewals of Certificates of Competency & Proficiency, etc.) can now be delivered by appointment or Walk-in service at the discretion of each Marine Safety and Security Transport Canada Centres (TCC). To confirm if walk-in service is available, please contact your local TCC by telephone or email or refer to the Transport Canada website.
• To ensure timely service, it is strongly recommended to always schedule in advance an appointment by contacting your local TCC by phone or email.
• As specified in TP 2293, candidates are reminded that an application for examination must be submitted at least two weeks before the scheduled examination date, this includes receipt of any required supporting documentation.
• Candidates are invited to pay by credit card the examination fee for examination, by telephone, when scheduling an appointment for an examination.
• Contact information for local Transport Canada Centres is provided in Section 5 below or on the Transport Canada website.

"Our intention is to continue to improve and expand our ability to deliver services that are more consistent across our regions. We also aim to offer you a greater ability to access the support and services you need, when and how you like, leveraging a variety of digital solutions."

Oral Examinations

"In an effort to offer better services to our seafarers, we are continuing to administer oral examinations using the virtual tool “MS-Teams”.

This will allow candidates to avoid physically travelling to a Marine Safety and Security Transport Canada Centres (TCC) to conduct their oral examination. Please note that this does not apply to written examination."

This bulletin was issued on 6 October 2023 and replaces SSB #04/2021 issued on March 19, 2021.

For more information, please see the document below (available only to subscribers):

Marine Medical Certificates, Discharge Books & Marine Counter Services (September 2023)