Permits become mandatory for all Canadian boaters on Tuesday, but at least one water-safety group is baffled by a loophole that means renters will not need the new card.

Metro Vancouver police launch an inflatable patrol boat in the city's English Bay. Starting Tuesday, anyone running a motorboat in Canada will need an operator's card, except when renting the vessel. (CBC)

In order to get the new Transport Canada-mandated Pleasure Craft Operator Card, anyone operating their own recreational motorboat will have to pass a written safety test.

But rental companies will be able to rent out recreational powerboats to anyone who completes a safety checklist, even if they don't have the card.

The exemption for renters doesn't make a lot of sense, said Wendy Schultenkamper, the education director of the B.C. and Yukon branch of the Lifesaving Society.

"I'm not quite sure as to the logic as to why that's done.... Just because you're renting a boat doesn't mean you're immune to the dangers on the water," Schultenkamper said.

Someone drowns in B.C. every other day during the summer, and 40 per cent of those accidents are boat-related, Schultenkamper said.

Transport Canada boating safety officer Timothy McCann said: "The focus is on safety. We want to assure that people operating pleasure craft have a basic understanding of the rules of the road and safety regulations."

The new rules will apply to about a million powerboat operators in B.C. alone and as many as six million boaters across the country, McCann said.

The exemption for renters was a compromise for rental companies, he said.

"Through consultation with the marine industry and the tourism industry, we came up with a temporary means, through rental operators going through the pertinent safety information of the vessel they're renting, as well as the area where they'll be operating the boat," McCann said.

In July, a woman sailing a small boat off Jericho Beach in Vancouver was seriously injured after a man driving a rented powerboat drove into her boat.

Pleasure Craft Operator Cards were first introduced in 1999 when they were required for anyone aged 16 years or under.

Transport Canada stresses that they are not licences because they are valid for life and cannot be revoked.