According to the Licence paperwork that came from the government.......
(Canadian)
"In accordance with the CANADA SHIPPING ACT, 2001, S.204, licences vessels must be marked with the licence number of the vessel in block letters not less than 75mm high and in a color that contrasts with their background. "
According to Wikipedia....
Block letters (known as printscript, manuscript, print writing or ball and stick in academics) are a sans-serif (or "gothic") style of writing Latin script in which the letters are individual glyphs. In English-speaking countries, children are often first taught to write in block letters, and later may advance to cursive (joined) writing. Other countries (Poland, Italy, etc.) focus on cursive writing from the first grade.[citation needed] On official forms, one is often asked to "please print". This is because cursive handwriting is harder to read and the glyphs are joined so they do not fit neatly into separate boxes.
It is not necessary to write in all capital letters when writing in block letters. In at least one court case involving patents, trademarks and registration of designs, the term "block letters" was found to include both upper and lower case.
So....
Using the above information, combined with the fact that
www.fontspace.com says that there are over 400 block lettering fonts available, one SHOULD be able to argue that as long as the numbers and letters are NOT joined, as in cursive, and can easily be seen due to the contrast against the hull, one should be good with ANY type of font. I could see how they might have a problem with the rainbow or colour changing material though....
Below is the section pertains to the Canada Shipping Act
Pleasure Craft
202. (1) If a pleasure craft is required by regulations made under this Part to be licensed, the owner of the craft shall not operate it, or permit it to be operated, unless it is licensed.
(2) When the ownership of a pleasure craft referred to in subsection (1) changes, the new owner shall not operate the craft, or permit it to be operated, until the licence for that craft is transferred to the new owner in accordance with the regulations.
203. (1) An application for a licence or for the transfer of a licence must be made in the form and manner, include the information and be accompanied by the documents specified by the Minister.
(2) The Minister may issue or transfer a licence to an applicant if the Minister is satisfied that all the requirements under subsection (1) have been met.
204. No owner of a pleasure craft in respect of which a pleasure craft licence has been issued shall operate it or allow it to be operated unless the licence number is marked on the craft and maintained in the form and manner specified by the Minister.
205. No person shall deface, alter, conceal or remove the licence number that is marked on a pleasure craft.
206. If a pleasure craft licence is mislaid, lost or destroyed, the Minister, on application made by the holder of the licence in the form and manner and including the information and accompanied by the documents specified by the Minister, may issue a replacement licence.
Taken from http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-10.15/fulltext.html
My tags should be here any day so I need to hurry up and decide.
