A piloting assignment generally concludes within eight hours from its commencement, which is the accepted length of time a single Pilot can perform his duties before becoming fatigued. By the end of the eight hours the vessel should either be safely anchored at its berth or outside of the Canadian piloting district. If the vessel is headed out to sea, the Pilot will notify the Captain of the vessel's current position, its course and speed, and then debark via the Pilot launch. If the vessel is headed into US waters, the Pilot will hand over the piloting responsibilities to a US Pilot.

If it is known in advance that the length of the transit will either be over 105 nautical miles or 8 hours in length, two Pilots will be assigned to the vessel to share the piloting duties. One Pilot will rest in a cabin, while the other is working, until it is his turn to take over the duty of piloting the ship. A Pilot can be on the same vessel for as long as 30 hours as is the case when a vessel is transiting from Vancouver to Stewart, B.C. or as short a time as two hours when a vessel is changing berths in Vancouver harbour.

At the completion of a piloting assignment, a Pilot is entitled to prescribed hours of rest based upon the length of the preceding assignment. The Pilot will either obtain this rest at his home or in a hotel if he has not yet returned to his home port. Once the Pilot's rest period has expired he is available for his next piloting assignment anywhere on the BC coast. The Pilots pay strict attention to their rest periods since experience has shown that performance and concentration rapidly decline as fatigue increases.

The BC Coast Pilots each work for a twenty-day period and are on call 24 hours per day during this time. There are specified hours of rest following each assignment to avoid fatigue, but other than these times the Pilot is either traveling or working.