By Yoan Marier, Chair of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada
Canada’s marine industry has long operated in the shadow of risk.
From unpredictable weather patterns to long hours in remote and often hazardous environments, the sector demands unwavering vigilance. Yet, despite years of investigations and recommendations from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), the same safety issues still jeopardize lives and livelihoods.
The TSB is sounding the alarm with the Watchlist — a program that identifies the most pressing safety issues across Canada’s transportation system. The latest edition highlights four persistent concerns — commercial fishing safety, fatigue management, safety management systems and regulatory surveillance — alongside one emerging issue: substance use.
The risks that accompany these issues are known, the solutions exist, but without timely and coordinated action, the cost will continue to be measured in lives lost.
Commercial fishing safety: Still one of Canada’s most hazardous jobs
Commercial fishing continues to rank among the most hazardous occupations in Canada. From 2010 to 2025, 143 lives were lost in 97 accidents involving fishing vessels.
The factors underlying these tragedies recur all too often: loss of vessel stability; immersion suits and personal flotation devices that are either not worn or worn incorrectly; critical lifesaving equipment, such as emergency signalling devices, that are absent or not maintained; hazardous work practices; and uneven enforcement of safety regulations across regions.
Without coordinated regulatory enforcement and a stronger safety culture across all regions and vessel types, commercial fishing will remain a high-risk sector.
Fatigue: A silent threat to safety
Fatigue is an overlooked hazard that quietly undermines safety. Fish harvesters spend days or even weeks at sea, working through unpredictable schedules and harsh conditions. Tug crews and ferry operators face similar challenges, with extended shifts and limited opportunities for restorative sleep.
However, accepting fatigue as an inevitable part of the job normalizes risk.
Enforcement of work and rest provisions on domestic vessels has been fragmented, and the Marine Personnel Regulations exclude approximately 95 per cent of fishing vessels. Domestic standards fall short of international benchmarks, permitting exhausting schedules such as six hours on followed by six hours off — conditions that can lead to chronic fatigue.
To address this, crews require practical tools to recognize fatigue and assurance that speaking up won’t cost them their job. Owners and managers play a critical role by creating conditions where rest is seen as an investment in safety, not a barrier to profit. In an industry driven by tight margins and quotas, this isn’t easy, but ignoring fatigue costs more in the long run.
Safety management: Better for business
Effective safety management systems (SMS) allow companies to identify hazards, manage risk, and make operations safer, ideally before an accident occurs. Effective vessel safety requires an SMS supported by a strong safety culture, where shore staff and crew communicate openly to assess risks, identify hazards, implement mitigations, and validate the effectiveness of these mitigations.
Although the new Marine Safety Management Systems Regulations significantly strengthen the framework for safety management, their effectiveness depends on Transport Canada’s (TC) ability to verify compliance.
A formal SMS doesn’t have to be complex or burdensome. It should scale to fit the size and nature of the operation. Fundamentally, safety management is about identifying hazards, assessing risks, and putting procedures in place to mitigate them. This is not just good for safety; it’s good for business. Safer operations mean fewer disruptions, reduced costs, and more time focused on productive work.
Regulatory surveillance: Falling short on accountability
Across Canada’s marine sector, many vessels under 15 gross tonnage are unregistered or go uninspected for years, sometimes their entire lifespan. Larger vessels fare better, but when inspections are carried out by third-party organizations, TC’s monitoring of those inspections is not uniform. This leaves critical safety risks unchecked.
Beyond enforcement, there’s an education gap. Many vessel owners and authorized representatives are unaware of their responsibilities under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001. To meet safety obligations, guidance and tools are needed. Without either, regulatory surveillance falls short.
Regulatory surveillance is not about checking boxes. It’s meant to confirm compliance and uphold minimum levels of safety across the industry. In its absence, there is no way to truly know if these safety practices are working.
Substance use: An emerging threat
Substance use is an under-addressed risk in marine operations, particularly in the fishing industry. Investigations and stakeholder consultations have revealed mounting concerns about drug and alcohol impairment, yet Canada still lacks consistent, sector-wide testing requirements. While some operators enforce zero-tolerance policies, substance use is often normalized in other parts of the industry.
In high-risk environments where coordination, alertness and split-second decision making are critical, impairment can be catastrophic. The lack of reliable data means the true scope of the problem remains unknown. Recognizing this, the TSB added substance use to our Watchlist, urging industry leaders to take proactive steps to assess and mitigate this evolving threat.
The issues in action
TSB investigations continue to reveal how these safety issues in the marine sector are deeply interconnected:
Tyhawk (M21A0065): A fishing vessel capsized due to ice accumulation, water ingress and unassessed vessel modifications. Fatigue and inadequate regulatory oversight were identified as key findings. All five Watchlist issues were present.
Suvak (M21C0214): A crew member was pulled overboard and fatally injured after working more than 21 consecutive hours. The investigation revealed jurisdictional shortcomings in occupational health and safety oversight on fishing vessels operating in Canada’s territories and highlighted fatigue management and substance use.
Mucktown Girl (M22A0052): A fishing vessel sank during a rescue operation, resulting in one fatality. Substance use and commercial fishing safety were central concerns.
Sam McBride (M22C0231): A passenger ferry struck a dock while berthing. The crew lacked emergency training, and passenger counts were inaccurate. Safety management and regulatory surveillance were key issues.
Cuyahoga (M23C0104): An engine room fire was caused by improper repairs, recurring fuel leaks, and deviations from manufacturer specifications. The SMS in place was ineffective, and oversight of delegated inspections was inconsistent.
These occurrences remind us that the safety risks are not hypothetical; they are real, persistent and often tragic. Addressing them requires urgent and sustained action.
Raising the bar, together
At its core, our Watchlist is meant to prompt change. It calls on regulators to address systemic issues and challenges the industry to reflect, reassess and ask: Are we doing enough?
Whether it’s enhancing training, adopting new technologies or strengthening internal procedures, operators have the power to go beyond the regulatory minimum.
Risk has long been part of the marine sector’s reality, but it doesn’t have to define its future. The path forward exists, and it begins with a shared responsibility to act safely.
Yoan Marier is the Chair of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and has many years of experience in the field of federally regulated transportation and regulatory compliance.
