In the US, anyone who takes a "passenger for hire" must be licensed.
This does not include cost sharing amongst friends, but anything that
"smells" like making money does.

The license requirements go well beyond the basic "Power Squadron"
class. You must be able to show 360 days of service, pass various
physical tests, drug test, criminal checks, etc. First and CPR certs
are needed. The rules test is closed book, must be 90% correct, and
is rather tricky. The other tests require boating, navigation and
plotting skills (running fix, etc.) and a knowledge of federal
regulations and how to look them up.

Courses for passing the basic version are a full week and cost roughly
$1000. The CG allows the course provider to give tests that are
roughly similar to the CG test, but are given in a friendlier
environment. Passing this allows you to take 6 passengers on a
personal yacht, assuming it passes certain requirements. An upgrade
to a more professional license, is fairly straight forward.

If your need is only very limited, such as a launch driver, there are
limited licenses that are easier to get.


wrote:
This is an off chute from "hunter 34 ... Broker.
I am not aware that in Canada we have Licensed pleasure craft sea Captain.
This year at the Newport RI boat show I saw several booths advertising for
pleasure craft Captain courses.
The information that I got was the cost of the course. When I ask for the
content of the course and its syllabus the answers I got were not as
detailed as I would have though. One of the person at the booth informed me
that if I wanted to operated my sailboat for commercial purposes I would
have to have a Captain's licence in the US. Because I do not know much
about this subject I will not make any comments and would appreciate if
someone could enlighten me.