Canadian Coast Guard


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Canadian Coast Guard
Garde côtière canadienne
Canadian Coast Guard
Agency overview
Formed 1962
Jurisdiction Government of Canada
Headquarters Ottawa, Ontario
Minister Responsible Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
Agency Executive George Da Pont, Commissioner
Website
www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) (French: Garde côtière canadienne (GCC)) is the coast guard of Canada, a country that is officially bilingual.

It is the civilian federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue (SAR) on its national portion of international waters such as the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, as well as on Lake Winnipeg and the territorial waters off the three ocean coasts (Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic) under the auspices of the National Search and Rescue Program, aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine (radio) communications & traffic services and icebreaking. CCG's responsibility encompasses Canada's 202,080[1] km long coastline, the longest of any nation in the world. The CCG-GCC is headquartered in the national capital city of Ottawa, Ontario and is a Special Operating Agency within the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. (Search and Rescue on Canada's inland waters comes under the jurisdiction of the provinces, not the federal government. Coastal and Seaway patrol vessels are operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and by joint RCMP-CCG Marine Security Enforcement Teams.)

Contents

History

Formation

Flag of the Canadian Coast Guard.

Originally a variety of federal departments and even the navy performed the work which CCG does today. Following Confederation in 1867, the federal government placed many of the responsibilities for maintaining aids to navigation (primarily lighthouses at the time), marine safety, and search and rescue under the Marine Service of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, with some responsibility for waterways resting with the Canal Branch of the Department of Railways and Canals. Lifeboat stations had been established on the east and west coasts under the Canadian Lifesaving Service moniker, and the West Coast Lifesaving Trail provided a rural communications route for survivors of shipwrecks on the Pacific Ocean coast off Vancouver Island.

After the Department of Marine and Fisheries was split into separate departments, the Department of Marine continued to take responsibility for the federal government's coastal protection services. During the inter-war period, the Royal Canadian Navy also performed similar duties at a time when the navy was wavering between becoming a civilian organization. It should also be noted that laws related to customs and revenue were enforced by the marine division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A government reorganization in 1936 saw the Department of Marine and its Marine Service, along with several other government departments and agencies, folded into the new Department of Transport.

Following the Second World War, Canada experienced a major expansion in ocean commerce, culminating with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. The shipping industry was changing throughout eastern Canada and required an expanded federal government role in the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast, as well as an increased presence in the Arctic and Pacific coasts for sovereignty purposes. The government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker decided to consolidate the duties of the Marine Service of the Department of Transport and on January 28, 1962 the Canadian Coast Guard was formed as a subsidiary of DOT. One of the more notable inheritances was the icebreaker Labrador, transferred from the Royal Canadian Navy.

Expansion years

A period of expansion followed the creation of CCG between the 1960s to the 1980s. The outdated ships CCG inherited from the Marine Service were scheduled for replacement, along with dozens of new ships for the expanding role of the organization. Built under a complementary national shipbuilding policy which saw the CCG contracts go to Canadian shipyards, the new ships were delivered throughout this "Golden Age" of the organization.

In addition to expanded geographic responsibilities in the Great Lakes, the rise in coastal and ocean shipping ranged from new mining shipments such as Labrador iron ore, to increased cargo handling at the nation's major ports, and Arctic development and sovereignty patrols - all requiring additional ships and aircraft. The federal government also began to develop a series of CCG bases near major ports and shipping routes throughout southern Canada, for example Victoria, BC, Darmouth, NS and Parry Sound, ON.

The expansion of the CCG fleet required new navigation and engineering officers, as well as crewmembers. To meet the former requirement, in 1965 the Canadian Coast Guard College (CCGC) opened on the former navy base HMCS Protector at Point Edward, Nova Scotia on Sydney Harbour, Cape Breton Island. By the late 1970s the college had outgrown the temporary navy facilities and a new campus was opened in the adjacent community of Westmount in 1981.

During the mid-1980s, the long-standing disagreement between the U.S. and Canada over the legal status of the Northwest Passage came to a head after the USCGC Polar Sea transited the passage in what were asserted by Canada to be Canadian waters and by the U.S. to be international waters. During the period of increased nationalism that followed this event, the Conservative administration of Brian Mulroney announced plans to build several enormous icebreakers, the Polar 8-class which would be used primarily for sovereignty patrols.

However the proposed Polar 8-class was abandoned during the late 1980s as part of general government budget cuts; in their place a program of vessel modernizations was instituted. Additional budget cuts to CCG in the mid-1990s following a change in government saw many of CCG's older vessels built during the 1960s and 1970s retired.

In the 1990s-2000s, CCG modernized part of its SAR fleet after ordering British Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)-designed ARUN-class high endurance lifeboat cutters for open coastal areas, and the USCG-designed 47-foot Motor Life Boat (designated by CCG as the Cape-class) as medium endurance lifeboat cutters for the Great Lakes and more sheltered coastal areas.

CCG announced plans in 2006 to order four new Midshore Patrol Vessels.[2] CCG announced on April 12, 2007 plans to order an additional eight new vessels.[3][4] Seven of these new vessels are scheduled to replace CCGS Québécois, CCGS Cumella, CCGS Atlin Post, CCGS Sooke Post, CCGS Kitimat II, CCGS Arrow Post, and CCGS Comox Post. CCG is also planning to order an additional five new vessels. The new vessels will have a maximum speed of 25 knots, be approximately 40 meters in length and carry a crew of 8-10 with additional room to carry DFO fisheries officers or RCMP officers. Delivery is planned from 2009 through 2014.

Bureaucratic oversight

From its formation in 1962 until 1995, CCG was the responsibility of the Department of Transport. Both the department and CCG shared complementary responsibilities related to marine safety, whereby DOT had responsibility for implementing transportation policy, regulations and safety inspections, and CCG was operationally responsible for navigation safety and SAR, among others.

Following the 1994 budget, the federal government announced that it was transferring responsibility for CCG from the Department of Transport to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The reason for placing CCG under DFO was ostensibly to achieve cost savings by amalgamating the two largest civilian vessel fleets within the federal government under a single department. Pundits at the time wrily referred to this arranged shotgun wedding as the 'Department of Fish and Ships'.

Arising out of this arrangement, CCG became ultimately responsible for crewing, operating, and maintaining a larger fleet - both the original CCG fleet before 1995 of dedicated SAR vessels, NAVAID tenders, and multi-purpose icebreakers along with DFO's smaller fleet of scientific research and fisheries enforcement vessels, all without any increase in budget - in fact the overall budget for CCG was decreased after absorbing the DFO patrol and scientific vessels.

Unfortunately there were serious stumbling blocks arising out of this reorganization, namely in the different management practises and differences in organizational culture at DFO, versus DOT. DFO is dedicated to conservation and protection of fish through enforcement whereas CCG's primary raison d'etre is marine safety and SAR. There were valid concerns raised within CCG about reluctance on the part of the marine community to ask for assistance from CCG SAR vessels, since CCG was being viewed as aligned with an enforcement department. In the early 2000s, the federal government began to investigate the possibility of making CCG as a separate agency, thereby not falling under a specific functional department and allowing more operational independence.

Special Operating Agency SOA

In one of several reorganization moves of the federal ministries following the swearing-in of prime minister Paul Martin's administration on December 12, 2003, several policy/regulatory responsibilities were transferred from CCG (back) to the Department of Transport to provide Canadians with a single point of contact for issues related to marine safety regulation and security, although CCG maintained an operational role for some of these tasks. Notably, DoT retained Office of Boating Safety (recreational boating regulations) and Navigable Waters Protection (waterway protection). The part of DoT that is concerned with maritime matters is today commonly referred to as Transport Canada Marine Safety Directorate, or simply "TC".

The services offered today (2008) by the Canadian Coast Guard notably include:

  • Icebreaking and Arctic Sovereignty
  • Search and Rescue
  • Environmental Response
  • Marine Navigation Services (aids to navigation: buoy tending, light station keeping, beacon maintenance, Notices to Mariners & Shipping)
  • Maritime Mobile Safety Services (marine radio communications including electronic aids to navigation systems)
  • Vessel Traffic co-ordination services related to vessel movement safety
  • Support to Fisheries Research (as a platform)
  • Offshore (NAFO), midshore and coastal enforcement
  • Marine Security Enforcement Team together with the RCMP
  • Marine support to Other Government Departments (OGDs)

Finally, on April 4, 2005 it was announced by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans that CCG was being redesignated a "special operating agency" - the largest one in the federal government. Although CCG still falls under the ministerial responsibility of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, it has more autonomy where it is not as tightly integrated within the department.

An example being that now all CCG bases, aids to navigation, vessels, aircraft, and personnel are wholly the responsibility of the Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard. The Commissioner is in-turn, supported by the CCG headquarters which develop a budget for the organization. The arrangement is not unlike the relationship of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police toward that organization's parent department, the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

The special operating agency reorganization is different from the past under both DOT and DFO where regional director generals for these departments were responsible for CCG operations within their respective regions (where it should be noted that there were problems under DFO that did not occur under DOT). Now all operations of CCG are directed by the commissioner who reports directly to the minister and the CCG's assistant commissioners in each the regions. This management and financial flexibility is being enhanced by an increased budget for CCG to acquire new vessels and other assets to assist in its growing role of helping to ensure maritime (i.e. non-naval, non-military) security.

CCG as an SOA continues to provide vessels and crew for supporting DFO's fisheries science, enforcement, conservation, and protection requirements. The changes resulting in CCG becoming a special operating agency under DFO did not address some of the key concerns raised by an all-party Parliamentary committee investigating low morale among CCG employees following the transfer from DOT to DFO and budget cuts since 1995. This committee had recommended that CCG become a separate agency under DOT and that its role be changed to a paramilitary organization involved in maritime security by arming its vessels with deck guns, similar to the United States Coast Guard and that employees be given peace officer status for enforcing federal laws on the oceans and Great Lakes.

Instead, today some members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (peace officers) work alongside CCG members who crew the vessels patrolling the waters of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Great Lakes and the southern gulf of Georgia Straight in British Columbia - which borders the US waters of the state of Washington - as part of marine security and enforcement teams. Until new, dedicated MSE vessels are launched starting in 2010, both the RCMP and the CCG have supplied vessels which now carry the dual markings and insignia of both agencies: the red hull with white slanted side stripe of the CCG, the words Coast Guard plus the word police. The shields of both agencies are featured on these hybridized vessels which carrying armed officers.

Non-military Personnel

Unlike the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), which is now within the US Department of Homeland Security but was formerly part of the US DOT - all the while subject to the US Secretary of the Navy in times of war - CCG continues to be a civilian, non-paramilitary organisation.

The enforcement of laws in Canada's territorial sea is the responsibility of Canada's federal police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as all ocean waters in Canada are under federal (not provincial) jurisdiction. Saltwater fisheries enforcement is a specific responsibility of DFO's Fishery Officers.

The Great Lakes are bi-national Canadian and American waters from the perspective of federal jurisdictions, laws and enforcement of same. A major crime committed 'on the water' would be investigated by the Canadian municipal, regional or provincial police force that ordinarily carries out such investigations on adjacent land. Canada no longer has federal port or harbour police forces, but did have them at one time. Federal offences committed 'on the water' might also be subject to investigation by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

Note that the CCG does not have a "reserve" whereas the Canadian army, navy, air force and US Coast Guard do. There is a Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (CCGA) comprised of some 5,000 civilian volunteers across the country who are members of a non-profit organization separate from the CCG proper. CCG provides operational and training (federal) funding under renewable "Contribution Agreements" signed by the Commissioner with each regional CCGA association.

Unlike the Canadian army, air and sea cadet programs, CCG does not involve 'cadets' (excepting in the sense of students attending the CCG College working towards their bachelor degrees.) Nor is there an ROT Program (Reserve Officer Training Program). However, Canadian university students can be offered summer employment positions as members of Inshore Rescue Boat Units. IRB Units generally operate from late May (Victoria Day long weekend) through early September (Labour Day long weekend) and are appropriately located at waterfront locations on waters under federal jurisdiction and therefore are subject to receiving coverage under Canada's SAR international conventions, that experience high levels of summer seasonal recreational boating activity (which results in the generation of more marine SAR incidents). Students were also once employed under CCG's Responsible Recreational Boating Unit (RRBU) program for safety on major inland waters, for example in the Pacific Region.

Organizational structure

CCG's management and organizational structure reflects its non-military nature. The head of CCG is called the "Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard". (The rank of "commissioner" is awarded to the head of the RCMP. However, 'rank' and associated insignia are not viewed in the CCG the same way they are in the RCMP or Canadian Navy).

The CCG agency supports several functional departments as outlined here:

  • Fleet Directorate
  • Maritime Services Directorate
  • Integrated Technical Services Directorate
  • Major Crown Projects Directorate

CCG as a whole is divided into five regions:[5]

  • Newfoundland and Labrador Region
  • Maritimes Region
  • Quebec Region
  • Central and Arctic Region
  • Pacific Region

Bases

CCGS John P. Tully
CCGS Frederick G. Creed
CCGS Alfred Needler
CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier
CCGS Parizeau
CCGS Hudson
CCGS Tracy
CCGS Des Groseillers
A CCG cutter exercising with a Canadian Forces CH-149 Cormorant.
CCGC Cape Sutil at CCG Station Port Hardy

CCG maintains a number of major bases and operating locations/stations on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as in the St. Lawrence River, Great Lakes and major navigable inland waterways such as Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg, and Great Slave Lake/Mackenzie River.

Currently, there are no vessels permanently based in the eastern Arctic, although CCG vessels and aircraft frequently operate there, staging out of bases on the Atlantic coast and supported by a base in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

Vessels: ships and small boats

The Fleet Directorate is responsible for all ships and their manning requirements. Most vessels have between 5-30+ crewmembers. CCG as a whole numbers approximately 2,000 personnel.

All CCG vessels are painted uniformly regardless of their use. They are characterized by a red hull and white superstructure, designed to look like a "floating Canadian flag". Their hulls bear a (primarily) white stripe raked forward at a 60 degree angle on each side forward. (USCG ships have white, black and red (and battleship grey) hulls marked with red raked side stripes well forward and edged with blue and white pinstriping with the USCG shield emblazoned on the stripe.) Ship nameplates are typically affixed to the superstructure, and vessels are typically named for persons or places of historic or geographic significance.

Throughout the 1960s-1990s, CCG painted primary SAR vessels in a different colour scheme: bright mustard yellow superstructure and maple leaf red hull, meant to distinguish them from navaid tenders and icebreakers, and also to improve their visibility on the open ocean in breaking waves. Today the only distinguishing markings for primary SAR vessels is the large RESCUE-SAUVETAGE lettering on the superstructure. Vessels carry the "Canada" 'federal wordmark', which incorporates the duotone version of the national flag. The words Coast Guard Garde Cotiere appear side by side on the hull.

The prefix "Canadian Coast Guard Ship", abbreviated CCGS, is affixed to any major vessel. Several minor vessels such as patrol boats and life boats carry the prefix "Canadian Coast Guard Cutter", abbreviated CCGC.

The list of various classes of CCG vessels includes:

Heavy Arctic Icebreaker

Large powerful icebreaker approximately 130 metres long and is capable of sustained operations in the Canadian Arctic with minimal support, for the period of early June to mid-November, and for escort operation in the Gulf of St-Lawrence and East Coast of Newfoundland in the winter.

Arctic Icebreaker

Large icebreaker of approximately 100 metres in length capable of sustained ice breaking and escort operations in the Arctic during the summer, and in the Gulf, St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Coast in winter. It is also capable conducting scientific missions, has a small cargo carrying capacity and can carry a helicopter if needed.

CG Program Vessels

Large multi-taskable vessels approximately 85 metres long, with an icebreaking capability that allows them to work mainly in southern waters and in the western Arctic.

Offshore Fishery and Oceanographic Research

Large offshore vessels approximately 80 metres long that are multi-taskable to fishery and oceanographic missions, as well as geological and hydrographic surveys. These vessels have no icebreaking capabilities, are equipped with wet labs, trawl capability, bottom sampling capability and water column sampling capability, and can accommodate up to 26 scientists.

Offshore Fishery Science

Large offshore Science vessels that are multi-taskable to acoustic and environmental research. They are able to do trawl surveys and some water column sampling and are equipped with wet labs.

Marine Service

Multi-taskable, shallow draft vessels that are about 65 metres in length. They have some icebreaking capability and can launch and recover Fast Response Craft. They are primarily used for aids to navigation, icebreaking, science and environmental response.

Offshore Patrol

Patrol vessels of up to 60 metres in length and can operate year-round beyond 120 nautical miles, including outside 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (except the Arctic). They carry 2 Rigid-hull Inflatable boats, and their main use is fisheries enforcement and search and rescue.

Mid-shore Patrol

Medium sized patrol vessels of about 37 – 42 metres which operate up to 120 nautical miles offshore. These vessels carry one or two Rigid-hull Inflatable boats (depending on the variant design) and have accommodation for two fisheries or police officers. The main use is for maritime security and fisheries enforcement.
  • CCGS Arrow Post
  • CCGS E.P. Le Québécois
  • CCGS Gordon Reid
  • CCGS Harp
  • CCGS Louis M. Lauzier
  • CCGS Louisbourg
  • CCGS Tanu

Hydrographic Survey

These vessels are meant to carry out hydrographic survey work primarily for the production of nautical charting products on the East and West Coast, but can also be used for stock assessment using sonar.

Special Navaids Tender

Shallow draft, flat bottom vessels used for the placement and maintenance of fixed and floating navigational aids on the Mackenzie River. They are very specialized vessels that can sustain repeated groundings while they search for shifts in the channel and are not usually sent into open waters. CCGS Nahidik also performs ocean surveys in conjunction with Canadian universities and Natural Resources Canada in the Beaufort Sea.
  • CCGS Dumit
  • CCGS Eckaloo
  • CCGS Nahidik
  • CCGS Tembah

Mid-shore Fishery Research

Medium-sized vessels that are multi-taskable to fishery and oceanographic missions, as well as geological and hydrographic surveys. These vessels have no icebreaking capabilities, are equipped with wet labs, trawl capability, bottom sampling capability and water column sampling capability.
  • CCGS Calanus II
  • CCGS Neocaligus
  • CCGS Opilio
  • CCGS Pandalus III
  • CCGS Shamook
  • CCGS Shark

Channel Survey & Sounding

Small twin-hull sounding vessels designed to conduct depth survey operations of the main shipping channel in the St-Lawrence River, between Ile aux Coudres and Montreal during the period or spring break-up until end of November.
  • CCGC F.C.G. Smith
  • CCGC GC-03

Air Cushion Vehicle

Medium sized multi-taskable vehicles, which float on a cushion of air, making them capable of working in very shallow areas. They are very fast vehicles (up to 60 knots), which makes them ideally suited for search and rescue, and environmental response where response time is critical. They are also used for icebreaking in shallow waters and in the St. Lawrence River for ice management.

SAR Lifeboats

Small shore-based self-righting lifeboats approximately 15 metre long, capable of search and rescue operations of up to 100 nautical miles with a top speed of approximately 25 knots. They carry a crew of four or five persons.
  • CCGC Bickerton
  • CCGC Cap aux Meules
  • CCGC Cap Breton
  • CCGC Cap D'Espoir
  • CCGC Cap De Rabast
  • CCGC Cap Nord
  • CCGC Cap Perce
  • CCGC Cap Rozier
  • CCGC Cap Tourmante
  • CCGC Cape Ann
  • CCGC Cape Calvert
  • CCGC Cape Caution
  • CCGC Cape Chaillon
  • CCGC Cape Cockburn
  • CCGC Cape Commodore
  • CCGC Cape Discovery
  • CCGC Cape Dundas
  • CCGC Cape Edensaw
  • CCGC Cape Fox
  • CCGC Cape Hearne
  • CCGC Cape Kuper
  • CCGC Cape Farewell
  • CCGC Cape Lambton
  • CCGC Cape McKay
  • CCGC Cape Mercy
  • CCGC Cape Mudge
  • CCGC Cape Norman
  • CCGC Cape Providence
  • CCGC Cape Spry
  • CCGC Cape St. James
  • CCGC Cape Storm
  • CCGC Cape Sutil
  • CCGC Clarks Harbour
  • CCGC Courtney Bay
  • CCGC Sambro
  • CCGC Spindrift
  • CCGC Spray
  • CCGC Thunder Cape
  • CCGC W.G. George
  • CCGC W. Jackman
  • CCGC Westport

Near/Inshore Patrol Vessel

Medium range with moderate speed, capable of operating in moderate weather conditions in sheltered waters - station mode.
  • CCGC 6C-4828
  • CCGC A.H. Chevarie
  • CCGC Atlin Post
  • CCGC Cape Hurd
  • CCGC Cape Light
  • CCGC CG 119
  • CCGC Cumella
  • CCGC Geliget
  • CCGC Isle Rouge
  • CCGC Kitimat II
  • CCGC Mallard
  • CCGC Osprey
  • CCGC Point Henry
  • CCGC Point Race
  • CCGC Pointe Caveau
  • CCGC Skua
  • CCGC Sooke Post
  • CCGC Sterne

Small CG Program Vessels

Small multi-taskable vessels that have a shallower draft overall and are configured to service marine aids to navigation.and have no helicopter carrying capability
  • CCGS Caribou Isle
  • CCGS Cove Isle
  • CCGS Gull Isle
  • CCGS Île des Barques
  • CCGS Île Saint Ours
  • CCGS Traverse
  • CCGS Tsekoa II
  • CCGS Vakta

Training Vessels

Vessels used for training at the Coast Guard College
  • CCGC CG 117
  • CCGC CG 118
  • CCGC Tuebor

Utility craft

CCG employs various makes and models of small craft aboard ships and at shore stations for utility and SAR tasks. Large vessels carry "sea trucks", similar to small landing craft, deployed by davits and used for delivering supplies ashore to light stations and remote communities. RHIBs equipped with outboard or inboard engine propulsion systems are deployed aboard CCG ships or at shore stations as tenders and as fast response boats for utility and search and rescue (SAR) tasks.
  • Sea trucks: Seatruck 3 (Canadian Forces), CGE 731
  • Zodiac Hurricane Mark IV, Mark V, Mark VI, 733 SOLAS designs
  • Roseborough RHIB

Procurement

Many larger vessels in the CCG are close to the end of their planned lifetime, having been constructed from the 1960s-1980s with no replacements in the 1990s-2000s.

Polar 8 Project

The Polar 8 Project announced in 1985 would have built several $700 million (1985 CAD) icebreakers with polar class of PC-1 for use in the Arctic Ocean. The project was cancelled in 1990 in lieu of refitting CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent.

Mid-shore patrol ships

The federal government announced plans in 2006 to acquire 12 mid-shore patrol ships for CCG to supplement fisheries conservation and protection duties (fisheries patrol ships) in Maritime, Newfoundland and Pacific regions. It was expected that 4 of these ships were to be tasked with marine security duties in the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Seaway. This $350 million procurement project was canceled in 2008 before final tendering was completed with no replacement project identified.[6]

Arctic Icebreaker

The February 2008 federal budget designated $720 million for the Polar Class Icebreaker Project[7][8] to replace CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent in FY 2017. In August 2008 the name for this project's sole vessel was announced as CCGS John G. Diefenbaker.[9]

Aircraft

In addition to various bases located in deep water ports, rescue stations in smaller minor ports, and its fleet of vessels, CCG also operates a small number of rotary and fixed wing aircraft. Rotary wing aircraft are used as ice surveillance platforms in the winter (operating from icebreakers and shore bases), while flying maintenance personnel and supplies for servicing aids to navigation year-round. Fixed wing aircraft are used for marine pollution surveillance patrols.

The majority of CCG aircraft are stationed at municipal airports located near major CCG bases and are primarily located in eastern Canada, given the absence of ice surveillance requirements for the west coast.

Fixed & Rotary wing maintenance
Fixed wing operations and maintenance

note - The 3 Fixed wing operations bases are not Coast Guard bases. The fixed wing aircraft are flown out of Transport Canada Civil Aviation bases.

Rotary wing operations and maintenance

Maintenance for CCG aircraft is provided by both CCG and Transport Canada personnel.

As with any government vessels being called upon to assist Canadian Forces Maritime Command, government civilian aircraft such as CCG aircraft may be called upon at any time to assist Canadian Forces Air Command.

Aircraft Origin Type Versions In service Notes
MBB Bo 105  Germany rotary wing 16 ship-based and shore-based ice surveillance, navigation aid maintenance
Bell 407  United States rotary wing 2 shore-based ice surveillance, navigation aid maintenance
Bell 212 Twin Huey  United States rotary wing 4 shore-based ice surveillance, navigation aid maintenance
Bell 206 JetRanger  United States rotary wing 6 shore-based ice surveillance, navigation aid maintenance
Sikorsky S-61  United States rotary wing S-61N 1 navigation aid maintenance
de Havilland Canada Dash 8  Canada fixed wing 2 marine pollution surveillance
Beech Super King Air 200  United States fixed wing  ? marine pollution surveillance
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter  Canada fixed wing 1 marine pollution surveillance
de Havilland Canada Dash 7  Canada fixed wing 1 marine pollution surveillance

Bo-105 on CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent

Bell 212

Lighthouses and Aids to Navigation

CCG operates one of the world's largest network of navigational buoys, lighthouses and foghorns assisting mariners on the Atlantic, Pacfic and Arctic Coastlines as well as selected inland waters. CCG completed a large-scale program of automation and destaffing which began in 1968 and was largely completed in the 1990s.[10] The result of this program saw the automation of all lighthouses and the removal of light keepers except for a handful of stations in British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick. Budget cuts and technological changes in the marine shipping industry, such as the increased use of GPS, electronic charting and GMDSS, has led CCG through several "Level of Service Reviews" pertaining to aids to navigation. This had led to the further decommissioning of buoys and shore-based light stations as well as a dramatic reduction in the number of foghorns.[11]

Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary

The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (CCGA), formerly the Canadian Marine Rescue Auxiliary (CMRA), is a nonprofit organization of volunteer recreational boaters and commercial fishermen who assist CCG with search and rescue as well as boating safety education. CCGA members who assist in SAR operations have their vessel insurance covered by CCG, as well as any fuel and operating costs associated with a particular tasking.

The CCGA permits CCG to provide marine SAR coverage in many isolated areas of Canada's coastlines without having to maintain an active base and/or vessels in those areas.

Heritage

The Canadian Coast Guard is the owner of many significant heritage buildings, including the oldest lighthouse in North America, the Sambro Island Lighthouse. The Coast Guard has selectively maintained some heritage lighthouses and permitted some alternative use of its historic structures. However many historic buildings have been neglected and the Coast Guard has been accused of ignoring and abandoning even federally recognized buildings. Critics have pointed out that the Canadian Coast Guard has lagged far behind other nations such as the United States in preserving its historic lighthouses.[12] These concerns have led community groups and hertage building advocates to promote An Act to Protect Heritage Lighthouses in the Canadian Parliament.[13]

Popular Culture

The spring of 2008 saw the introduction of a weekly Canadian television drama on Global Television that is loosely based on the rescue operations of the CCG on the southern Canadian west coast. Originally to be called "Search And Rescue", the series debuted as "The Guard", which is not surprising since a full length feature starring Kevin Costner as a USCG Rescue Swimmer had been released earlier, called "The Guardian". The CCG provided a motor lifeboat, small helicopter and a hovercraft along with their operating crew to be used in the production. The show revolves around a fictitious station called Port Hallert, which is actually Squamish British Columbia.

Insignias and Badges of the CCG

Epaulettes

In the military these represent ranks, in the Canadian Coast Guard they represent levels of responsibility and commensurate salary levels.

Cadet

SO-MAO-02

SO-MAO-03

SO-MAO-04

SO-MAO-05 to 06

SO-MAO-07 to 09

SO-MAO-10 to 13

Branch is denoted by coloured cloth between the gold braid. Deck Officers, Helicopter Pilots, Hovercraft Pilots and JRCC/MRSC Marine SAR Co-ordinators do not wear any distinctive cloth.

Electrical & Electronic, Dark Green

Engineer, Purple

Inshore Rescue Boat, Orange

Logistics & Supply, White

Medical, Maroon

Meteorological, Light Blue

Radio, Emerald Green

Training, Royal Blue

Cap Badges

Crew

Petty Officer

Officer

Qualification Insignia

Deck

Engine Room

Petty Officer

Rescue Specialist

Supply

Medals, Awards, & Long Service Pins

Exemplary Service Medal

Commissioner's Commendation

10 Year Long Service Pin

15 Year Long Service Pin

20 Year Long Service Pin

25 Year Long Service Pin

30 Year Long Service Pin

35 Year Long Service Pin

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

References

  1. ^ The Atlas of Canada - Coastline and Shoreline
  2. ^ "Mid-Shore Patrol Vessels – What Happened to MSPVs and Fisheries Research Vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard?". Canadian American Strategic Review (March 2007). Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  3. ^ "12 Mid-shore Patrol Vessels". Department of Fisheries and Oceans (April 12, 2007). Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  4. ^ "Marine Security", Transport Canada (April 27, 2007). Retrieved on 1 February 2008. 
  5. ^ Canadian Coast Guard - Regions
  6. ^ "Navy’s support ship replacement program and new coast guard ships quietly scuttled", The Chroncile-Herald (August 24, 2008). Retrieved on 24 August 2008. 
  7. ^ "Arctic icebreaker, fishing port, tax break a start: northerners", CBC News (February 27, 2008). Retrieved on 4 March 2008. 
  8. ^ Chris Windeyer (February 29, 2008). "Feds to replace old icebreaker", Nunatsiaq News. Retrieved on 4 March 2008. "Ottawa will put aside $720 million this year to commission the icebreaker, which the government says will have better ice breaking capability than the Louis St. Laurent, considered the workhorse of the Coast Guard." 
  9. ^ Lee Berthiaume (February 27, 2008). "Icebreaker Replacement Deadline Looms: Despite $720 million in yesterday's federal budget, procurement for a new polar icebreaker will take eight to 10 years", Embassy, Canada's Foreign Policy Newsletter. Retrieved on 4 March 2008. "Despite setting aside $720 million in yesterday's budget to purchase a new polar class icebreaker, the government will be cutting things close if it wants to decommission the ageing Louis St. Laurent heavy icebreaker as scheduled by 2017, according to Canadian Coast Guard commissioner George Da Pont." 
  10. ^ Lighthouses and Lights E.R. Irwin, Nimbus, 2003, p. viii
  11. ^ Heritage Canada Foundation, Presentation to the Standing Committee of fisheries and Oceans, http://www.heritagecanada.org/eng/news/s220_brief.htm
  12. ^ "Facts About Canada's Threatened Lighthouses" Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society http://www.nslps.com/r&p_lighthouse_protection_act.asp#facts
  13. ^ Heritage Canada Foundation, Presentation to the Standing Committee of fisheries and Oceans, http://www.heritagecanada.org/eng/news/s220_brief.htm
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