Training and Experience

This pilot boat was named in honour of the man believed to be the first St. Lawrence pilot in New France. On a deed of sale signed before notary Claude LeCoustre and dated December 27, 1647, Abraham Martin gave his trade as royal pilot. Born in France in 1589, he arrived in New France around 1620. This offshore fisherman received 12 arpents of land near Quebec City in 1635, and another 20 arpents in 1645. It is thought that the Plains of Abraham, part of Quebec's Battlefields Park, is named after him.

This iron-hulled pilot boat, built in 1928, carried pilots from the Pointe-au-Père station in Rimouski.

From the first days of the colony, training was offered to help mariners learn to tackle the hazards of the St. Lawrence. Starting in 1635, the Jesuits offered courses on navigation and hydrography at the Collège de Québec. A royal school of mathematics and hydrography was founded in Quebec City in 1671, and in 1717, the Jesuits were authorized to issue pilot licences.

As early as 1756, the French naval officer and explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville remarked on the difficulties of navigating the St. Lawrence. He noted that the river's obstacles were Quebec City's best defense. During the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, he was tasked with defending Anse-au-Foulon. Some believe he was partially responsible for the defeat of New France, although he only acted as an agent at the time and did not have much responsibility. After the defeat, he returned to France, where he became a captain on June 15, 1763. On December 22, he left Saint-Malo bound for the Falkland Islands.

Captain Joseph Adélard Bernier was a pilot on the St. Lawrence. He navigated between Quebec City and Pointe-au-Père, back when Pointe-au-Père was a staging post for pilots.

This is Quebec's only training centre for maritime workers. It was founded on May 24, 1944, and offers five technical college diplomas: Navigation, Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering, Transport Logistics and Professional Diving. It also offers a professional studies program in seamanship in partnership with the Commission scolaire des Navigateurs.

In 2005, the Corporation of Lower St. Lawrence Pilots founded the Maritime Simulation and Resource Centre in Quebec City to improve pilot training. The facility simulates the wheelhouse of a ship, and reproduces navigation conditions encountered on the St. Lawrence. It allows students to learn various maneuvers and become familiar with navigational instruments.

Institut maritime du Québec in Rimouski

Pilots assist the ship's captain with navigation in specific sectors. They have expert knowledge of local navigation conditions. They also guide the ship when it enters or leaves a port.

This pilot, who belongs to the Corporation of Mid-St. Lawrence Pilots, boarded the ship while it was moored at a wharf.

The pilot and the captain talk in the wheelhouse.

The pilot talks to a crew member. On the left we can see the radar screen, while the electronic chart is on the right.

Transcription

(Music. Alain Arsenault, President of the Corporation of Mid-St. Lawrence Pilots, talks about the profession of pilotage. We see images of the St. Lawrence near the Laviolette Bridge. Then, Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) I’m a maritime pilot on the St. Lawrence. I’ve been a pilot with the Corporation of Mid-St. Lawrence Pilots for around 15 years. What does a maritime pilot do? (Photo of a tugboat and an oil tanker not far from the Port of Trois-Rivières) He is responsible for the conduct of the vessels entrusted to him 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, when he is on call. It’s a big responsibility. Pilots are first trained as captains. They usually graduate from an accredited maritime college like the one in Rimouski, here in Quebec. When a pilot boards a ship, he takes conduct of it. This is set out in the Pilotage Act. (Bird’s eye view of the St. Lawrence near Sorel-Tracy.) All ships navigating the St. Lawrence upstream of Les Escoumins must have a pilot on board to conduct them. It’s the law. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) As pilots, our job is to board a ship and take over its conduct, relieving the commanding officer and the team on the bridge. We’re responsible for ensuring safe navigation when we’re aboard a ship within a compulsory pilotage area. It’s what we do every day. I’ve been doing it for 15 years. It’s a fascinating job. There’s no routine, and my work conditions change from one day to the next. (View of the St. Lawrence, with a red buoy in the shipping channel.) The weather changes. (Oil tanker and three tugboats on the frozen river.) The river changes, with the tides and the ice. In summer there are pleasure boaters, fishermen, and all sorts of other people on the river. (View of water flowing in the partially frozen river, taken from Trois-Rivières.) In the winter, we’ve got ice and wind, and there are no lighted buoys. That makes our work much more difficult. That’s our day to day. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) We never know in advance what ship we’ll be working on, or at what time. We’re on call with four hours’ notice when we’re on duty. We call it a tour of duty. (Bird’s eye view of the St. Lawrence, with a cargo ship and a ferry in front of Île Saint-Ignace de Loyola.)

Pilotage in Canada has been organized since the Bernier Report was released and the Pilotage Act was enacted in 1972. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) Canada was split into four pilotage regions. Four Crown Corporations oversee pilotage, under the responsibility of Transport Canada. There’s the Pacific Pilotage Authority, which administers compulsory pilotage waters on the west coast. (Tugboats and cranes next to a commercial ship.) The Great Lakes Pilotage Authority manages all waters (Aerial view of islands in the St. Lawrence) upstream of Montreal, including the Great Lakes, except Lake Michigan, which is fully within American waters. (View from the wheelhouse of a container ship on the river, showing the front of the ship.) The Laurentian Pilotage Authority, which we belong to, covers the St. Lawrence. There’s also the Atlantic Pilotage Authority, which manages the compulsory pilotage system in the Atlantic provinces. (Photo of a lighthouse and shed on the edge of the ocean, with a gull in flight.) Since 1972, the law has allowed pilots to choose between two statuses. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) We can organize into corporations, like we do here on the mid-St. Lawrence and like our colleagues on the lower St. Lawrence. The lower St. Lawrence pilots have conduct of ships between Les Escoumins and Quebec City, and on the Saguenay River. We take over upstream of Quebec City. (View of part of the inside of the wheelhouse and the front of a container ship sailing toward the old Quebec Bridge.) We are the pilots belonging to the Corporation of Mid-St. Lawrence Pilots, and we have conduct of ships between Quebec City and Montreal, including in the Port of Montreal. We’ve sub-divided our district. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) It was sub-divided many years ago, in the ‘50s I think, because it covers so much territory. There are 130-135 nautical miles of river between Quebec City and Montreal. We divided District 1.0 into two sectors: (Images of the river running under the Laviolette Bridge) the Quebec City/Trois-Rivières sector and the Trois-Rivières/Montréal sector, each about 65-70 nautical miles long. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) Then there’s the Port of Montreal, which is a separate district, District 1.1. The pilots of the Port of Montreal joined our corporation about 8 years ago. (View of a boat used to transport pilots.) There are also pilots with the status of employees, who work for the Pilotage Authority. (Music)

(Music) If you think back to the discovery of the Americas, the time of Jacques Cartier and Christopher Columbus, they had pilots on board too. Back then, pilots were map makers. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) When the ship would get close to shore, they would anchor it or leave it to drift at sea, then they’d send out small boats. The pilot and a small crew would row out and map the area, sounding the bottom to see where the water was deepest. (Historical map of Canada, in colour, showing the St. Lawrence River and decorated with drawings of people and animals.) The pilot would map out a safe route for the big ship. That was the role of pilots in the early days of the colony. When those pilots came here, they settled in with the first colonists (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) and began offering their services to visiting merchant ships that came to bring all the supplies the colony needed. Of course, there were no organized groups back then. There was no legislation governing pilotage. The pilot who went out the farthest to offer his services would be the one who got the job. Pilots would set out downstream from Pointe-au-Père in a sailboat or a rowboat (Three historical black and white photographs of the Pointe-au-Père pilot station) and go out as far as they could into the St. Lawrence Estuary to offer their services to the highest paying customers. It was very dangerous (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) given the rough weather of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Over the years, many of the pilots plying this trade lost their lives trying to reach a ship. Their boat might capsize, or they might get lost in a storm—things like that. And their families would be left without an income. It was very difficult for their widows and children. (Black and white medallion portraits of pilots operating in 1899.) The first pilots’ associations were founded to provide an income to the families of dead pilots. That was the purpose originally. Pilots would come together to raise money and provide some insurance to the families of pilots, who could lose their lives doing their jobs. That’s how it started. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) Once pilots started forming associations, they soon saw the advantages of setting up tours of duty to avoid (Old black and white photo of a steamboat on the river.) having to race each other to the ships and risk it all to earn an income. (Music)

(Music) As set out in our contracts, mid-St. Lawrence pilots are on call 207 days out of 365. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) And our work periods are not very regular because we have peak periods where there is more traffic. More pilots have to be on call in some periods. (Aerial view of the St. Lawrence and the Lake Saint-Pierre Archipelago.) Generally, a pilot will work for 17 or 18 days in a row, then have 12,13 or 14 days off. This is not a vacation, it’s called a rest period. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) In other words, pilots accumulate the equivalent to their weekends. In a job where you work five days a week, you get two days of rest out of seven. But since we work 17, 18 or 19 days in row, after that we get 10, 12 or 13 days of rest. When we’re on duty, we’re on call 24 hours a day, with four hours’ notice. (The St. Lawrence near the bridge of Trois-Rivières.)

A pilot will be assigned to a ship. They tell you which ship you’re assigned to, which pier it leaves from and which pilot station it’s headed to. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) The pilot gets up and checks the weather. With the tools we have today, he can also check traffic density, see what ships he will encounter and predict the issues he could run into. The pilot starts preparing for his assignment four hours in advance. (Pilot boat carrying a pilot to a cargo ship.) When he boards the ship, he makes sure he has everything he needs to do his job. (Pilot boat approaching a red cargo ship from the starboard side.) Of course, the work has changed a lot over the years. Pilotage involves a lot of technology, (Pilot boarding the cargo ship using a ladder lowered down to the pilot boat.) although it also requires a lot of traditional knowledge of visual aids. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) Because even in 2018, and not just around here, (A pilot and a navigation officer talk in the wheelhouse of a cargo ship. Two screens can be seen in the foreground.) all over the world, pilotage is a primarily visual job. You need to identify your location by sight, and there are visual markers for each change of course, for changes in direction, and to help interpret the strength and direction of the current. (Photo of a green buoy in the shipping channel at the western tip of Lake Saint-Pierre at sunrise.) Sight plays a very important role. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in font of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) When we say that pilots on the St. Lawrence know their nautical charts like the back of their hand, it’s not just an expression—it’s the truth. (Nautical chart in three sections, showing the river between Montreal and Quebec) The final exam for a pilot on the St. Lawrence involves making a scale drawing, from memory, of their entire pilotage district, 70 nautical miles. Pilots have to memorize nearly 150,000 km of shoreline. (Music. Photo of the western end of Lake Saint-Pierre at sunrise.)

(Music. Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) There’s something about belonging to an association that’s been around for nearly 150 years now. (Logo of the Corporation of Mid-St. Lawrence Pilots superimposed over a photo of a container ship on the river.) There’s a certain pride in being part of something bigger than yourself, in belonging to a historic corporation (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) that played a key role in the economic development of Quebec. I’m proud to be a member of the Corporation. All our pilots are equal shareholders in the Corporation. That’s special, and almost unique when it comes to professional associations. Our 110 pilots are equal shareholders in a company (The Trois-Rivières pilot station seen from outside.) that they direct, and that has been in operation for nearly 150 years. It’s amazing! (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) In any industry, it’s rare to see so many equal shareholders come together to make a project a success. I find it very interesting to be part of a group that is able to do this, and that is directed democratically. (Photo of Alain Arseneault speaking into a microphone at a meeting.) I was elected President by my peers. And at the end of my term, one of my colleagues will take over. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) All of our directors are pilots, elected democratically during the annual general assembly. (Logo of the Corporation of Mid-St. Lawrence Pilots superimposed over a photo of a pilot boat approaching a commercial ship.) It’s a very democratic system. It also allows pilots to participate in the region’s business community. (Stern view of three commercial ships travelling in the shipping channel.) We’re part of the system, the logistical chain. That’s also interesting. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) Pilots know that if they want to, they can participate in this side of things and help grow their company. (Stern view of three commercial ships travelling in the shipping channel. The red ship is seen close up.) As a professional, I find it very exciting to have this opportunity. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) The Corporation also contributes to the industry. (Panoramic view of two pilot boats moored at the pilot station, with the bridge of Trois-Rivières in the background.) It gives our partners confidence that we’ll be there for them, that we’re not going to disappear from one day to the next. (Music)

(Music) To be a pilot on the St. Lawrence, first you need to love the river. That’s for sure. You need to love being surrounded by nature. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) You need to love working in nature. You also need to love working with people, because a pilot on the St. Lawrence is constantly interacting with people from all over the world. Every ship that comes up the St. Lawrence comes from a different place and has crew members from different countries. (Stern view of a container ship on the St. Lawrence.) You need to be open to different people and cultures. You have to want to communicate with them. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) To get into this career, first you need to become a merchant marine officer. That’s where you start. That means attending the Institut maritime du Québec in Rimouski. (Photo of the Institut maritime du Québec in Rimouski) There are others in Canada, but in Quebec we have one maritime college, in Rimouski. It gives you a college-level diploma. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) It doesn’t take years of study like a university degree. It’s a co-operative education program, which means it involves work terms. (A young man and two crew members look at navigational instruments in the wheelhouse of a commercial ship.) It’s a very interesting, hands-on program. It lasts four years.

You have to complete your basic training at the maritime college and spend a year as a cadet. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) At that point we call you an officer cadet. Then, you become a merchant marine officer. Transport Canada manages the certification program for merchant marine officers in Canada. (Pilot typing on a computer keyboard in a wheelhouse.) You have to accumulate sea time. It’s a bit like air pilot training. They need a certain number of flight hours. For us, it’s sea time, days at sea. So you go navigate for a company. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) As you accumulate sea time, you take the opportunity to write Transport Canada exams and earn certificates. The top certificate is Master Marine, which allows you to be captain of any ship, anywhere in the world. (Photo of a young female marine officer.) That’s the ultimate goal for a merchant marine officer. Of course, during that time, you’re working. You’re doing your job as a merchant marine officer. It’s a fascinating job where you get paid to travel. (Photo of Alain Arseneault in the wheelhouse of a commercial ship he is piloting.)

I loved my time as a merchant marine officer. I rose to the highest ranks and I was commanding officer on various oil tankers. (Photo of a red and white oil tanker on the St. Lawrence.) I really enjoyed that experience. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) Once you get to that level, when you’re a captain or first mate, you’ve got the prerequisites to apply to become a pilot on the St. Lawrence. (Photo of hundreds of birds flying over a commercial ship on the St. Lawrence.) After that, we take change of your training for the next two years. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) The apprentice pilot program is very hands-on. There’s a theory component also, but it involves a lot of practical training. You need to do more than 300 voyages supervised by a licensed pilot (A pilot and three crew members in the wheelhouse of a commercial ship.) over two years to acquire the in-depth knowledge (Photo of a cargo ship on the St. Lawrence. The sun on the horizon is reflected in the water.) you need to be a pilot. Then you take the exams and become a licensed pilot. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) And then it takes about another eight years of piloting larger and larger ships before you reach the top level, becoming a Class A pilot. (Photo of the cruise ship Rotterdam moored at the Port of Quebec City.) We call that having an unlimited licence, and it means you can pilot the largest vessels permitted on the St. Lawrence: large cruise ships and oil tankers, (Photo of the oil tanker Justice Victoria in the shipping channel near Île des Barques.) large container ships, (Photo of two container ships on the St. Lawrence.) all that. Class A pilots are allowed to have conduct of large ships like that. (Music)

(Music) I entered the Institut maritime in 1990 and graduated in 1994, which is the standard time. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) I earned my Master Marine certificate in 1999, then became an apprentice pilot in 2003. I earned my first pilot licence, as a Class C pilot, in 2005. (Photo of an oil tanker sailing towards the Quebec Bridge.) It took me 11 years after graduation to become a pilot. That was a normal career path at the time. These days, we don’t have enough pilots on the St. Lawrence. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) A highly motivated young person who loves their work could rise through the ranks more quickly because positions are available. (Photo of two crew members in the wheelhouse of a ship coming into port. Several screens can be seen.) Today, you’ll find apprentice pilots starting out at the age of 25 or 26. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) Not so long ago, about 15 years in the past, it was rare to see pilots under 30. Things are changing. People are younger, and they rise through the ranks more quickly. (Music. Photo of a cargo ship on the St. Lawrence, taken from the wheelhouse. Above, a rainbow can be seen in the cloudy sky.)

Technology plays a key role in our work these days. We use all sorts of new technology. (Photo of a pilot in the wheelhouse of a cargo ship, talking with crew members from many different countries.) But you also need to continually interact with people from all over the world. Young people today are very open to the world. They want to travel. They’re open to other cultures. I think this job is a great opportunity for all that. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) Every day, its like you’re in a different country. The ship comes from a different place. One day the commanding officer might speak Greek, the next he could be Filipino. The next day, you could end up on a Russian ship. You never know. With four hours’ notice, you go to work in a different country every time. (Photo of a cargo ship sailing east at dusk, not far from the illuminated Pierre-Laporte Bridge in Quebec City.) That’s how I look at it. If I think back to my youth, I wanted to navigate. I didn’t know that I would become a pilot back then. But I knew I wanted to be on a ship. (Alain Arseneault stands in his office in front of a window. Through the window, the Port of Trois-Rivières and part of the city can be seen.) I love the river. I love spending time on the water. I look around myself today, and I just have to say WOW. I couldn’t ask for better. I always wanted to travel. I always loved to travel. I love immersing myself in other cultures. And I love technology. This is my dream job. But I also think it would also be a dream job for many young Quebecers and Canadians. It’s a job with a future. Even though it’s a traditional job, it’s also a job with a future. (Aerial view of the St. Lawrence near the Lake Saint-Pierre Archipelago. Music.)