July 8, 2025

By John Gullick

I have been asked if CanBoat will again be offering local events across the country to talk to boaters about their Safety Equipment and giving them an opportunity to legally dispose of outdated marine flares.

CanBoat is excited to announce that their partnership with CIL Orion will continue but this year The Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons Foundation will be funding up to 30 events across the country. Local Squadrons working with local Marine retailers will undertake education and awareness of safety equipment, the care and maintenance of that equipment and how to safely and effectively use and dispose of marine flares in 2025.

To date we have conducted 26 of 29 events and have collected a total of over 38,000 outdated flares.

Have Your Flares Expired?

If your flares have a manufacture date of 2021 or earlier they have or will expire this year. You can’t light them, throw them in the water or in your household garbage to dispose of them.

Disposing of expired flares has been an ongoing dilemma for boaters across the country. To help boaters dispose of expired flares in a safe and environmentally responsible manner CanBoat, the Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons Foundation and selected marine retailers who carry CIL Orion product(s) are hosting Safety Equipment Education and Flare Disposal Days. On these days, boaters will be offered the opportunity to learn about required safety equipment and bring outdated flares to be properly disposed of, free of charge. We accept outdated recreational marine flares from any manufacturer.

Events are posted on CPS-ECP’s national web site, www.cps-ecp.ca but unfortunately there are only two events left this year.

CanBoat will again be requesting renewed funding from Transport Canada’s Boating Safety Contribution Program for 2026 to 2028. If funding is not received then the program will probably have to be cancelled.

John Gullick, Manager of Special programs, jgullick@cps-ecp.ca.