PCOC INSTRUCTOR

Sail Canada is accredited by Transport Canada to deliver boating safety courses and administer tests for the issuance of Pleasure Craft Operator Cards, including replacement cards, under the Competency of Operators of Pleasure Craft Regulations.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR PCOC INSTRUCTORS

In 2022 the PD requirement has been included in the requirement to re-certify as described below.

A requirement of the Transport Canada Quality Management regime for PCOC instructors requires that instructors complete some professional development (PD) activities during their annual certification period. In order to meet this requirement Sail Canada asks that instructors indicate the PD activity they completed each year, in advance of annual registration. PD should reflect approximately a day in duration and may be composed of a number of shorter duration sessions. Identified PD activities may be reviewed and instructors asked to provide additional information or proof of attendance at the identified PD activities.

Examples of activities that will be accepted include:• Participation at a provincial annual symposium / Conference
• Participation in a National symposium / Conference
• Completion of first aid training
• Completion of training that will enhance teaching, coaching, or presentation skills
• Attendance at 2 or more Cruising or Powerboat Instructor meetings that include a training
component
• Completion of training focusing on skills or knowledge relating to vessel operation or to any of
the topics included in the PCOC syllabus
• Completion of a Sail Canada program certification
• Completion of a Sail Canada Instructor Module
• Recertification of a Sail Canada Instructor certification
• Completion of a Coach Boat Safety Course
• Attendance at a Race Official Seminar
• National Committee Work
• Provincial Committee Work

Instructors are to email proof of completion of annual professional development tosailcanada@sailing.ca.

Certification and Recertification 2022

Effective January 1, 2022, a revised recertification procedure has been adopted. Please see the following documents for information.

 

DOWNLOAD CRUISING INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATION ROADMAP 2022

DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTOR RE-CERTIFICATION APPLICATION 2022 (WORD)

DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTOR RE-CERTIFICATION APPLICATION 2022 (PDF)

DOWNLOAD SUMMARY 2022 CRUISING INSTRUCTOR RECERTIFICATION POLICY

DOWNLOAD THE FULL 2022 CRUISING INSTRUCTOR RECERTIFICATION POLICY

 

PCOC INSTRUCTOR-ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

This applies to Instructors who are teaching and examining courses on their own behalf. If you are training for a school then usually the school will take care of the administration, however, you should be aware of the procedures and must have a copy of the policy for administering the PCOC exam.

In order to examine candidates you will need:

  1. Copies of the current exams. The exams are reusable (so long as your students do not write in them). You are prohibited from making copies of the exams and must keep close control of them. There are three versions of the exam so that you can be sure that no candidates sitting next to each other have similar exams. The answer keys are configured so that the correct response answer sequences differ from exam to exam. The exams are generated by Transport Canada and renewed periodically. See below for additional information on these exams. If this is the first time ordering this set of exams and you had previous exam sets you are required to destroy the prior exams and provide TruCash with a completed form attesting to this fact.
  2. Temporary license applications/student answer sheets. These are used by the students to complete the exams and as such these are consumables. Part of this form becomes a temporary license for students. You will need to ship the marked answer sheet to TruCash in order for TruCash to process and mail the license to the successful student.
  3. Copies of the Answer keys for the exam. You just need one copy of each of these. You may want to reformat the answer keys so that the student exam answer sheets are simpler to mark.
  4. Processing applications for TruCash. One of these forms is submitted with each batch of exams that you send to TruCash.
  5. Copies of an approved textbook. There are a number of providers and you may choose to use any of their texts. Sail Canada has teamed with CPS and you can buy co-branded copies of the CPS “Basic Boating” texts for use with a course from TruCash. A copy of a safe boating guide is not considered by Transport Canada to be a suitable text.

 

Course Planning and Support Materials
The PCOC instructor training manual has been updated. This manual provides information on presenting training and provides a curriculum plan for the delivery of a 12-hour course (including exams).Sail Canada PCOC Instructors may download a pdf copy of this manual from the PCOC area of the members’ resources section on the Sail Canada website.

Transport Canada has reworked the phrases and presentation approach to be used in advertising courses when referencing Transport Canada. Sail Canada agents and Instructors may download a Microsoft Word copy of this material from the PCOC area of the members’ resources section on the Sail Canada website.

New Instructors
Download and print out Credit Card Authorization FormPDF Form. This form must be completed and sent to TruCash before you are able to place an order. You must be current and certified to be able to order materials.

All Instructors
Instructors must sign and submit an agreement to destroy all old exams prior to new exams being sent.

The Boating Basics Handbook is available to be ordered from TruCash () as well as the new Boating Safety Tests & application forms
Description of the various packs ofPCOC materials and a price list can be found in the sailing.ca member’s area.

In the same directory, there is a file of the protocol which must be followed for the test and which should be printed out and be available and visibly posted in the testing area during tests.

Completed exams
Completed exams with an application form should be sent by mail to TruCash to the attention ofNina Duker. (Address below). The application form is provided with the exam packs.

PCOC Test Information
Transport Canada issued Boating Safety tests valid for the period beginningJanuary 1, 2019,and endingDecember 31st, 2023are available for order by Sail Canada registered PCOC Instructors. Please contact Deborah at TruCash; to order the current iteration of the Boating Safety Tests.

There are 3 unique tests each consisting of 50 questions. Tests will be valid until December 31, 2023, at which time 3 new unique exams will take effect. The passing mark is 38 correct answers out of a possible 50 (>75%). The Transport Canada-approved Sail Canada test protocol indicates that a candidate may take up to 75 minutes to write the exam. Along with the new exams, there are new application forms and test answer sheets.

Old Exams
With the implementation of new PCOC exams effective January 1, 2019, Transport Canada requires that all old PCOC exams be destroyed. As of January 1, 2019, all Sail Canada PCOC Instructors are required to destroy any old PCOC exams in their possession.All Sail Canada PCOC Instructors must be aware of these changes in order to continue offering PCOC Courses & Tests:and must sign and submit anagreement to destroy all old exams if they have not already done so.

Quality Control System
The Transport Canada-issued Sail Canada PCOC boating safety tests are not to be electronically copied, transmitted, distributed, shared, or posted in any manner to any agent, affiliate, proctor, or any other instructor. Transport Canada has recently introduced additional Quality Control / Quality Management (QMS) requirements that Course providers (Sail Canada) and their agents (examiners and trainers) are required to follow. Compliance with these QMS requirements will become mandatory in October 2014. You will be hearing more specific information on these requirements in the next few months.

Pleasure Craft Operator Card Study Guide
Sail Canada and the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron have partnered to provide a co-branded manual addressing all 256 knowledge requirements; Boating Basics Handbook.

This Boating Safety Course Manual has been approved by Transport Canada strictly on the basis that it meets the minimum requirements of basic boating safety knowledge set out in Transport Canada’s Boating Safety Course and Test Syllabus (TP14932E). This approval does not represent the confirmation of authorship by the course provider.

This manual is available to be ordered from TruCash () along with the new Boating Safety Tests & application forms.