The Pilotage Examination Process

The Pilotage Examination Process

1. The date, time and place of exams are announced in newspapers at least two (2) months in advance.

2. Part I of the exams consists of a written test as described in paragraph 13, the passing mark being 70%.

3. Prior to being admitted to Part II of the examination, a candidate must have been successful in Part I.

4. Part II of the exam includes a written test on local knowledge; the minimum required being 70%. A candidate can take Part II at the same session as Part I or at a subsequent session; in the latter case, a candidate can undertake to pass Part II at any of the next four (4) biannual sessions. Failure to successfully pass Part II within this time limit will render null the exam of Part I.

5. Part II also includes an oral test on local knowledge, Regulations and ship handling.

An evaluation of the performance of the candidate is made by the Board of Examiners to determine the success or failure of a candidate in accordance with the standards established by the Board.

6. The oral exam is electronically recorded; these recordings are kept by the Authority and can be made available in case of failure to the candidate when so requested.

7. Failure to successfully pass Part I constitutes a failed attempt as per Regulations. It is mandatory for the candidate to rewrite the exam.

8. Failure to successfully pass one or both tests of Part II of the exam constitutes a failure as per Regulations. In such case, both tests are to be taken at a subsequent session.

9. A candidate who has failed the same examination three (3) times is not eligible for further examination.

10. Prior to being admitted to a pilotage exam, a candidate must take a language test to demonstrate proficiency in English and French. It consists of a pre-recorded test; answers by the candidate are also recorded. Subject matters and expressions used in the test are marine related. The test (duration: about 50 minutes) is administered by an officer of the Laurentian Pilotage Authority.

11. Information regarding pilotage certificates:

a) An applicant who has successfully attended the training program entitled “Pilotage Certificate Training for the Laurentian Region (District 2 Québec City/Les Escoumins)” - TP 13458E - given by Institut maritime du Québec is not required to take the written tests of Part I and Part II.

b) A pilotage certificate holder is by definition a regular member of the crew of a ship. He is competent to pilot the ship on which he is a regular member of the complement within the limits of a compulsory pilotage district as indicated on his certificate.

c) As provided in the Regulations, a candidate may be issued upon request a certificate for part-of-district; a certificate may also be issued with a seasonal limitation.

d) The Board of Examiners will take into account the fact that a person may apply for a seasonally and / or geographically restricted certificate in formulating questions; thus,

1) for an applicant to a seasonal certificate, subject matters contained in Articles 5.01 to 5.03 of the Syllabus do not apply;

2) for an applicant to a part-of-district certificate, when the certificate is restricted to part of a district, subject matters contained in Section 5 of the Syllabus only apply to the part in question.

12. Exams Session