Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS)

The Canadian Coast Guard’s (CCG’s) Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) program provides services to the marine community and the public through MCTS centres.

Program responsibilities include:

• detecting distress situations and ensuring that help is delivered promptly;
• screening vessels to prevent unsafe vessels from entering Canadian waters;
• broadcasting safety information;
• regulating vessel traffic movements;
• coordinating communications between ships and land-based customers on a cost-recovery basis; and
• managing an integrated marine information system.

These services are delivered 24 hours a day throughout 22 centres across Canada. All MCTS centres are operational year-round, except for those in Iqaluit (Nunavut) and Inuvik (Northwest Territories), which serve the Arctic during the navigational season from mid-May to late November.

Clients of MCTS include:

• commercial and fishing vessels;
• recreational boaters;
• port authorities;
• shipping and marine industries;
• pilots;
• the general public;
• other CCG and departmental programs;
• other government departments, agencies and organizations; and
• provincial and territorial governments.

For more information on CCG’s Marine Communications and Traffic Services program, go to:

• Marine Communications and Traffic Services
• Levels of Service