Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons

Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons (CPS) is a nationwide Canadian organization of recreational boating enthusiasts which offers boating safety courses. Its two most popular courses are BoatPro (also offered under the title Boating Handbook), which entails three or four hours of classroom instruction, and the Boating Course, which entails 30 to 35 hours of classroom instruction. Both meet the accreditation requirements for the Canadian government's Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC), and for the benefit of Canadians who wish to operate their boats in United States waters both courses are also recognized by the [http://www.nasbla.org United States National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA)] .

In addition, the Canadian federal government has designated CPS as the sole provider of accreditation examinations for obtaining the Restricted Radiotelephone Operator's Certificate (Maritime), which is mandatory for anyone using a VHF or other marine radio in Canada. [ [http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/smt-gst.nsf/en/sf05257e.html Delegation of authority to CPS to issue Restricted Operator Certificates (Maritime)] ]

CPS is organized at the local, district and national levels, with its local chapters being called "squadrons". All CPS members serving at all levels within the organization do so as unpaid volunteers.

History

The first squadron of CPS was established in 1938 in Windsor, Ontario, when a small group of Canadians attended a coastal navigation course offered by the nearby Detroit Power Squadron of United States Power Squadrons (USPS). Soon afterwards, additional squadrons were formed in three other Ontario cities, Sarnia, London and Toronto. [ [http://windsor.cps-ecp.org/history.htm History of CPS] ]

Following a hiatus during the Second World War, Canadian Power Squadrons was incorporated on 27 October 1947. [ [http://www2.cps-ecp.org/members/regs/LettersPatent.pdf Letters Patent of CPS] ] From the 1950s to the 1980s, more and more squadrons were formed from coast to coast, including squadrons offering courses in the French language in the province of Quebec.

In 1985, the organization’s name was changed to Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons to reflect the growing presence of sail-boaters within its membership. At the same time, the French name Escadrilles canadiennes de plaisance (ECP) – which had been used unofficially for several years – was formally adopted. [ [http://www2.cps-ecp.org/members/regs/LettersPatent.pdf Letters Patent of CPS] ]

At its peak in the 1970s and 1980s, CPS welcomed some 12,000 Canadians into its classes every year. Only one course was open to the general public, named Piloting until 1972 and subsequently renamed Boating; and that course accounted for over two thirds of annual enrolment. All other courses were open to CPS members only. These were a series of advanced courses in seamanship, piloting and celestial navigation, and specialty courses in subjects such as marine weather, electronics, boat maintenance and offshore sailing. Each course typically consisted of 18 to 25 two-hour sessions, taught on a schedule of one session per week. Members serving on national committees designed the syllabus for each course, selected the textbooks to be used and produced a course guide setting out reading assignments and review exercises. All courses were conducted in a classroom setting, and were taught by CPS members as volunteer instructors.

Until 1968, the Piloting Course and the two advanced courses following on from it were taught from the textbook "Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling" by Charles F. Chapman ("Chapman's"), the same text used by USPS for its piloting and seamanship courses. In 1969, CPS adapted these courses so that they were instead taught from the textbook "Boating in Canada" by Garth Griffiths, which had been written expressly as a Canadian alternative to "Chapman's".

In the 1980s, CPS became concerned that prospective students found the Boating Course too long, and could not stick with it through the usual 20-week course schedule from the end of September to the middle of March. To make the course more accessible to those with little free time, CPS greatly simplified the content of the Boating Course, shortening it so that it could be covered in only 10 to 12 sessions rather than 20. [ [http://www2.cps-ecp.org/members/training/minutes/2006-07/FinalJointPresentationMar18.pdf CPS training meeting records] ] In so doing, it eliminated the textbook on which the course was based so that the sole reference manual was an expanded set of Student's Notes drafted by CPS members.

Several other CPS courses were similarly revised by trimming back the course content and replacing outside textbooks with Student's Notes produced within CPS.

Establishment of the PCOC standard

In 1999, the Canadian government established the requirement that all pleasure craft operators in Canada must hold a Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC), attesting to the operator having passed an approved examination of boating competency. [ [http://www.tc.gc.ca/mediaroom/backgrounders/b04-M056e.htm The PCOC as a certification of boating competency] ] The minimum standard required to obtain the PCOC was set very low, requiring only three or four hours of classroom instruction. CPS responded to the new requirement by producing a short course meeting the PCOC standard, under the title BoatPro. [ [http://www.cps-ecp.ca/?C=39&K=225133&ListingByName=11106 The CPS Boating Handbook (BoatPro)] ]

However, hundreds of other course providers entered the market with their own PCOC-compliant courses, many of them offering meagre content and undercutting CPS on price. Some providers offer the PCOC examination on a challenge basis without candidates being required to take any course of study at all, [ [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FLAC.20070716.MACGREGOR16%2FTPStory%2FTPComment%2F%3Fquery%3D&ord=2030178&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true "The Globe and Mail": Column by Roy MacGregor] ] and some providers offer the examination without proper invigilation, including over the Internet. [ [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070803.wboating0804/BNStory/National/ "The Globe and Mail": Shortcomings of the PCOC accreditation system] ]

CPS today

As of 2008, CPS has over 32,000 members in more than 170 squadrons across Canada. To be eligible for full membership, a person must have passed the Boating Course examination; or alternatively, to be eligible for associate membership, a person must have passed the BoatPro PCOC examination. All members receive the CPS national magazine and a commercial Canadian boating publication – either "The Port Hole" and "Canadian Yachting" [ [http://www.cymagaine.ca "Canadian Yachting"] ] in English or "Le Hublot" and "L'escale nautique" [ [http://www.escalenautique.qc.ca "L'escale nautique"] ] in French – and have access to a variety of other membership benefits. [ [http://kingston.cps-ecp.org/membership_benefits.htm CPS members' benefits] ]

Each year, over 4,000 CPS members volunteer their time to support the organization, primarily in developing and writing CPS course material and instructing CPS courses in classrooms, or in administrative functions at the local, district and national levels.

The Boating Course, the BoatPro course and specialty courses in marine weather, boat maintenance, offshore sailing and marine electronics (depth-sounders, marine radio, the Global Positioning System (GPS), electronic charting and radar) are offered not only to CPS members but also to the general public. Only the advanced courses in seamanship, piloting and celestial navigation are restricted to CPS members. [ [http://www.cps-ecp.ca/public.asp?WCE=C=11|K=224455|RefreshS=Container|RefreshT=224455|A=Body CPS courses] ]

In 2008, CPS started marketing the BoatPro text through commercial outlets in Canada under the title Boating Handbook.

CPS also offers the general public a course on the use of marine radios and administers a qualifying examination for the Restricted Radio Operator’s Certificate (Maritime). The certificate is required by law in Canada for the use of any marine radio installed on a vessel, and the Canadian government has designated CPS as the sole provider. [ [http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/smt-gst.nsf/en/sf05257e.html Delegation of authority to CPS to issue Restricted Operator Certificates (Maritime)] ]

Most CPS squadrons schedule their courses to run for about 13 sessions at one session per week, either from September to December or from January to April. Exceptions are short seminar courses such as BoatPro and the marine radio course, which usually run for two or three sessions, and the celestial navigation course, which usually runs for about 25 sessions. CPS also makes its courses available for self-study by correspondence. [ [http://www.cps-ecp.ca/?WCE=C=47|K=224651|RefreshT=224455|RefreshS=Container|RefreshD=2244557 Correspondence courses offered through the CPS Distance Education Centre] ]

Long-term issues facing CPS

Attracting and retaining volunteers

Despite its substantial membership numbers, CPS, in common with other volunteer groups in Canadian society, has found it difficult to keep attracting new members and getting them to participate in the organization. [ [http://www.torontopowersquadron.org/TPSGPJAN02.pdf "Gangplank", January 2002: "Commander’s Report"] ] [ [http://www.capilanosquadron.com/Images/cc/0704.pdf "Cap Current", spring 2007: "Training and CPS"] ]

Membership and finances

Although CPS instructional materials are prepared by volunteers, the organization has substantial overhead and travel costs as a result of operating a national head office and holding several large meetings a year. At the national level, CPS has consequently had to focus on maintaining its revenue stream, which is derived from two sources: the sale of memberships, for which successful completion of the CPS Boating Course is the prerequisite, and the sale of course materials prepared by its volunteer authors.

To increase its revenue from the sale of memberships, CPS has taken two recent steps. In 2006 it lowered the pass mark for the Boating Course examination so that a larger percentage of Boating Course students would qualify to become members. [ [http://www2.cps-ecp.org/members/govboard/2006/October/GB06OctMinutes.pdf CPS Governing Board minutes, October 2006] ] Then in 2007 it started bundling one year of CPS membership with the Boating Course materials and raised the price of the course by an amount equal to one year’s membership fee, so that every student who enrolls in the Boating Course is effectively required to pay the first year's membership fee, regardless of whether that student successfully completes the course or actually wants to join the organization. [ [http://www2.cps-ecp.org/members/govboard/2007/JuneFinalMinutesRev.pdf CPS Governing Board Minutes, June 2007] ]

The PCOC and the boating public’s desire for knowledge

The PCOC standard is designed for someone who operates a very small boat on inland waterways, always within sight of land and with no concern for finding the boat's position if it is unknown. The PCOC standard does not address the needs of someone who operates a boat in coastal waters, who must be able to take account of tide and current and determine the boat's position at all times. [ [http://www.burnabysquadron.com/COURSES/BoatPro.htm Content of the BoatPro course] ]

Unfortunately, because the PCOC qualification has been established as the only Canadian government standard for operating pleasure craft, a general impression may have been fostered among the Canadian boating public that a person who has obtained PCOC certification is qualified to operate a boat anywhere in Canada, and that more detailed courses such as CPS's Boating Course and advanced coastal navigation courses are unnecessary.

Even in the case of CPS’s own PCOC-compliant course, BoatPro – which covers the PCOC knowledge standard thoroughly – there are many other PCOC providers offering the PCOC qualifying examination with little or no instruction and at a lower price. Boaters who wish merely to obtain their PCOC qualification so that they will be in compliance with government regulations, rather than learn as much as they can on the subject, are naturally drawn to those other providers.

CPS faces the difficulty that it must continually work to encourage the boating public to pursue more advanced training in order to operate their boats safely. Not only is the PCOC standard inadequate for operating a boat anywhere other than inland lakes and rivers, but the Boating Course itself is rudimentary. It teaches basic manual methods of coastal navigation, but it does not cover tides and currents or the GPS satellite navigation system. Anyone operating a boat in coastal waters needs to take further courses on those subjects, although very few people do. [ [http://www.cps-ecp.ca/?WCE=C=47|K=224646|RefreshT=224455|RefreshS=Container|RefreshD=2244553 CPS Advanced Piloting course] ] [ [http://www.cps-ecp.ca/www.cps-ecp.ca/courses/eng/nav_gps.htm CPS Navigating with GPS Course] ]

Declining enrolment

For the reasons discussed above, total enrolment in CPS courses has been dropping. The Boating Course has seen the largest decline, from 10,000 students in 1992 to barely 4,000 students in 2007. [http://www2.cps-ecp.org/members/training/TrainingFutureRev6Mar2007.pps] [http://www.cps-ecp.ca/public.asp?WCE=C=62|K=225420]

External links

* [http://www.cps-ecp.ca/ Main website of Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons]

* [http://www.usps.org/ Main website of United States Power Squadrons]

* [http://www.tc.gc.ca/mediaroom/backgrounders/b04-M056e.htm Canadian Government Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC)]

Footnotes