Canada had lightships – well, I know of one on the Fraser River – the Sandheads #16. It used to be situated at the mouth of the Fraser River. More information on the Sandheads Lightships here.

The website Vancouver History has this to say:

The Sandheads #16 lightship at the mouth of the Fraser, there since 1913, ended its service. This two-masted schooner had started life in New York in 1880 as the Thomas F. Bayard, a Delaware Bay pilot ship. (Thomas Bayard was a Delaware senator.) She had an interesting career, which can be read about here. The Bayard was purchased in 1978 by the Vancouver Maritime Museum, which has been restoring her to her condition as a West Coast sealer.

The Canadian Coast Guard has a nice page on lighthships as well – you can find it here.

I also found a book called Steveston Cannery Row: an illustrated history (2005) which Google has indexed and it also has a bit of information on the Fraser River lightships.

 Today I came across an article with an interview with two US Coast Guard employees that worked a lightship off the Washington Coast off the Columbia River. Very interesting reading: ‘There can’t be a lot of real Lightship sailors still around’ It is a little bit different than living on a stable lighthouse on land.