La Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA), Chapter N-22, is a federal law designed to protect the public right of navigation in Canadian waters, as defined by the law, by prohibiting the building, placing or maintaining of any work whatsoever in, on, over, under, through or across any such navigable water, without the authorization of the Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Canada.

The public right of navigation also includes the use of both pleasure craft and commercial ships as well as all other types of boats.

History

The  Navigable Waterways Protection Act (NWPA), Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, is one of the oldest pieces of federal legislation. It first became law on May 17, 1882, and was originally intended to protect marine navigation routes by controlling the logging industry and the construction of bridges and dams.

It has undergone a number of changes over the years and its application no0w involves all works in, over, under through or across any navigable waterway in Canada.

Although the scope of the Act has been broadened over the years, its main objective is still to protect the public right to navigation. Today, the Act applies to many different types of projects undertaken on any of the navigable waterways and coastal zones of Canada.

Useful Laws and Regulations

The Navigable Waters Protection Program is implemented in order to protect the public right to marine navigation, to ensure the safety of mariners and to protect the marine environment by enforcing the Navigable Waters Protection Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act with respect to major projects

Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA)
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act

Services

• Approval of Bridge Plan
• Approval of Ferry Cable Projects
• Approval of Construction Works
• Apporval of Aquaculture Projects
• Navigable waters protection
• Protection of the public right to navigation
• Removal of obstructions to navigation
• Receiver of Wrecks
  • Notice of Receiver of Wreck is a list of wrecks in custody by the Receiver of wrecks in Quebec region. This file is available in PDF format (Portable Document Format, file size 12 Ko) which will download in approximately 3 seconds on a 56.6 connection and may be viewed using Adobe® Acrobat Reader version 3.0 or higher. This reader may be downloaded free of charge by visiting the Adobe® web site.
• Typical Plans

Publications and references

• Federal Guide to the Review of Aquaculture Site Applications
• Aquaculturists and Mariners
• A Guide to Reporting Wreck
• Boating Safety Guide
• Model announcement for publication in French is available in PDF format (Portable Document Format, file size 21 KB) which will download in approximately 18 seconds on a 28.8 connection and may be viewed using Adobe® Acrobat Reader version 3.0 or higher. This reader may be downloaded free of charge by visiting the Adobe® web site. 
  
• Model announcement for publication in English is available in PDF format (Portable Document Format, file size 26 KB) which will download in approximately 22 seconds on a 28.8 connection and may be viewed using Adobe® Acrobat Reader version 3.0 or higher. This reader may be downloaded free of charge by visiting the Adobe® web site. 

Additional information:

901, Cap Diamant, 3^th floor
Quebec, Quebec
G1K 4K1
Tel. 418-648-5403
Fax. 418-648-7640
E-mail: jonesri@tc.gc.ca