How to Sell a Boat Privately in Canada

Pleasure Craft Licence vs. Vessel Registration

These are two different systems, and mixing them up is the most common boat-selling mistake.

Pleasure Craft Licence (PCL): a unique ID number, like a licence plate. It is NOT proof of ownership. Required if your boat has one or more motors totalling 10 hp (7.5 kW) or more and is operated in Canadian waters. Valid 5 years; $24.41 to issue, renew, transfer, or replace (fee indexed each April 1); apply and manage it online through Transport Canada's PCELS system. Operating an unlicensed boat that requires one can mean a $250 fine.

Vessel Registration (Canadian Register of Vessels): a title system that tracks ownership. It's optional for most pleasure craft; you only need it to name your vessel or register a marine mortgage. Registration gives you a Certificate of Registry. A registered vessel does not also carry a PCL; the two are mutually exclusive. Most private recreational boats are licensed (PCL), not registered.

Selling the boat but keeping the motor (or selling a motor on its own)

The licence attaches to the vessel, not to the motor. Transport Canada describes a Pleasure Craft Licence as a number displayed on both sides of the bow, "like a car's licence plate", used for identification and not as proof of ownership. It identifies the craft.

Engine power only decides whether the craft needs a licence at all. A pleasure craft used for recreation needs a PCL if it "has one or more engines totalling at least 10 horsepower (7.5 kW), even temporarily" and is principally operated and maintained in Canadian waters. That threshold is the eligibility trigger, not a registration of the engine itself.

Here is the part that is hard to find an answer to, and it is a plain no. Across every published PCL transaction type, applying for a new or transferred licence, getting a duplicate, and cancelling one, Transport Canada asks only for government-issued ID for all owners, proof of ownership, a photo of the pleasure craft, and ownership details covering the seller's and buyer's names and signatures, the make, model and colour of the craft, and the hull serial number where available. No field, form or process in that set asks for the engine or motor make, serial number, or horsepower.

So selling the boat and keeping the outboard, or selling an outboard on its own, is not a Transport Canada reporting event. The motor is simply property. Nothing has to be reported or transferred for the motor itself. What does still apply is the licence on the hull: if the craft changes hands, the buyer transfers the PCL.

How to sell a boat, step by step

For a licensed (PCL) boat, the common case:

1. 1
   Sign a bill of sale. This is the real ownership document for a licensed boat.
2. 2
   Seller: do not cancel the licence. The PCL number stays with the boat for its entire life; cancelling it doesn't transfer anything and just leaves the boat unlicensed.
3. 3
   Buyer transfers the PCL within 30 days, before operating the boat: government ID for all owners, the bill of sale as proof of ownership, a current photo of the boat, and $24.41. Transport Canada emails a temporary 30-day licence with the same number right away.

What is Form 6: Bill of Sale?

Form 6 is Transport Canada's official bill-of-sale template for the Small and Large Vessel Registers. It's used to transfer a registered vessel, along with the full chain of bills of sale from the registered owner to the buyer (each copy signed by both parties, with the vessel description and date; a vessel is divided into 64 shares, so joint owners must all sign).

If your boat is only licensed (PCL), the common case, Form 6 is NOT required. A plain bill of sale is accepted; Form 6 can be used as a convenient template if you'd like one.

Can I sell a boat without a title?

Pleasure craft in Canada generally don't have a car-style title. A licensed boat's PCL is not proof of ownership; the bill of sale (and the chain of ownership it represents) is.

Transport Canada accepts several forms of proof of ownership: bills of sale, wills or bequests, separation or divorce agreements, court judgments, and signed transfer agreements. If none of these exist, for example, a home-built boat, a Declaration Under Oath, sworn before a lawyer, notary, or Commissioner of Oaths, can establish ownership instead. Transport Canada provides a sample declaration form on its proof-of-ownership page.

Only registered vessels have a formal title: the Certificate of Registry.

What the bill of sale must include

• •Seller's name, address, and signature
• •Buyer's name and signature
• •Description: make, model, year, colour, length
• •The HIN (Hull Identification Number): the boat's VIN equivalent
• •The PCL number, if the boat is licensed
• •Purchase price and date

Selling a boat and trailer together

Selling a boat on a trailer is two separate transactions. The trailer is a provincially registered vehicle, not part of Transport Canada's boat paperwork.

• •The boat: bill of sale + PCL transfer through Transport Canada (see above).
• •The trailer: a separate bill of sale + provincial registration/permit transfer (e.g., at ServiceOntario); the exact steps vary by province.

Sales tax on a private boat sale

A private seller who isn't a GST/HST registrant doesn't charge GST/HST on the sale, but the buyer may owe a provincial tax, and this varies by province.

• •Ontario (confirmed): the buyer pays 13% RST on a privately purchased boat and trailer (treated as "specified vehicles"), calculated on the purchase price or fair market value. Boats aren't registered at ServiceOntario, so RST is paid directly at a ServiceOntario Centre or to the Ministry of Finance along with the bill of sale, and Ontario cross-checks Transport Canada records to confirm RST was paid. Family-gift and estate exemptions exist.
• •British Columbia: PST applies to boats too (7% or 12%, depending on how the boat was acquired, per Bulletin PST 108); check the bulletin for your situation rather than assuming a single rate.
• •Other provinces: a provincial tax may apply; check with your province.

British Columbia: PST on a private boat sale

British Columbia taxes a boat differently depending on who sells it, and unlike a vehicle there is no registration counter where the tax gets collected. That second part is what catches people out.

• •Private sale in B.C.: the buyer pays PST at the rate of 12% on the purchase price of the boat, including accessories, unless a specific exemption applies.
• •From a GST registrant (a dealer): 7%.
• •Bought privately outside B.C. and brought in: 12% on the depreciated purchase price.
• •Received as a gift: 12% on the fair market value.
• •Nobody collects it at a counter, so the buyer self-assesses: file a Casual Remittance Return (FIN 405) on or before the last day of the month following the month of purchase. A buyer who already has a PST number reports it on their next return instead.

Selling to a buyer in the United States

The seller-side admin is short, and most of it is the same as any other sale. What changes is the licence or registration record, and the two systems behave differently.

Licensed pleasure craft (the common case): the rule does not change because the buyer lives elsewhere. If you sell your pleasure craft, do not cancel the licence. A Pleasure Craft Licence number stays with a pleasure craft for its entire life. The buyer transfers the licence into their name before operating the craft, within 30 days of the ownership change, and Transport Canada accepts government issued ID from their own country if they are a resident of another country.

One published rule does bear on the situation: a pleasure craft cannot be licensed or registered in multiple countries at the same time. Transport Canada handles cancellation as a written request giving the name, address, licence number and the reason.

• •Registered vessels are a different system: Canada does not register vessels to foreign citizens.
• •Closing a registration lists "vessel sold to a foreign citizen" as a reason. The request goes to the Vessel Registration Office with the official number, proof of ownership and the reason.
• •A deletion certificate is often issued when a vessel is sold to a foreign buyer who wants to register it in their own country. The foreign registry will need proof that the Canadian registration of the vessel has been closed.
• •On the large register, the vessel must be mortgage-free, and if the vessel has been sold the request to close must come from the new owner.