Canadian Coast Guard Information Kit

Our Support Role

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) delivers maritime services so that a number of government departments, agencies, and other organizations can carry out important work in the marine and fresh water environment.

The CCG supports the following government departments and agencies.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) – Science, Fisheries and Aquaculture Management and the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS)

• Supporting scientific activities related to the conservation, protection and sustainable development of fisheries resources, fish habitat management and study of the influences of climate variations and aquatic ecosystems
• Broadcasting Notices to Harvesters and handling catch reports and calls during the seal hunting season
• Providing vessels to allow Conservation and Protection officers to patrol and conduct inspections at sea for compliance with all of the regulations designed to ensure orderly fisheries
• Providing sounding, hydrographic survey, water level and channel bottom information to CHS for navigational charts and other publications, including Notices to Shipping (NOTSHIPS) and Notices to Mariners (NOTMAR)

Transport Canada’s (TC) – Marine Security, Marine Safety, TC inspectors, Navigable Waters Protection Program, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation and port corporations

• Providing vessels to conduct safety inspections on vessels involved in ship-source pollution incidents
• Providing support in controlling the marine traffic within the St. Lawrence Seaway and certain ports within Canada
• Providing vessel movement, incidents, pollution and water ballast information to ensure compliance with vessel reporting and security regulations
• Collecting information for the 96-hour Pre-arrival Information Report from vessels destined for Canadian waters
• Providing operational guidance for the design and installation of private buoys and aids to navigation systems

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

• Delivering dedicated vessels to support national security and law enforcement capacity on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system
• Providing vessels and maritime expertise to enforcement officers conducting routine vessel interceptions and boarding to support law enforcement activities, such as drug trafficking

Department of National Defence (DND)

• Responding to federal maritime priorities as well as natural and man-made emergencies
• Providing a training platform for Joint Task Force Two, the Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets
• Supporting joint search and rescue operations and sovereignty exercises

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)

• Providing vessels to conduct vessel interceptions and boarding to counter the illegal migration of people and goods, plants and animals into and out of Canada

Environment Canada (EC)

• Providing vessels to conduct impact assessments on the marine environment following ship-source pollution incidents
• Deploying instruments and buoys used by EC to monitor toxic substances, pollutants and severe weather warnings, to collect data for weather forecasts and to ensure compliance of environmental protection legislation
• Providing aircraft in support of migratory bird surveillance operations
• Providing sounding, water level and channel bottom information for the creation of various publications
• Broadcasting safety and weather information to ships
• Transporting fuel and cargo needed to operate the Eureka weather station and ice camps

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)

• Providing vessels to conduct seismic and bathymetric surveys in support of Canada’s submission to establish the outer limits of our sovereign rights in the Arctic under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS
• Providing vessels and air support to acquire, interpret, maintain and distribute maps, information, technology, standards and expertise concerning the Canadian landmass, as well as in the fields of geosciences, geodesy and surveying

The CCG reports all marine incidents and accidents to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and provides vessels and aircraft in support of investigations. The Coast Guard also provides information regarding vessel traffic movement, suspicious traffic and maritime activity to DND, Agriculture Canada, Immigration Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, the RCMP and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in the interest of safeguarding the health, safety and security of Canadians.

Lastly, the CCG delivers support to the ArcticNet community, led by the Laval University, and other organizations to conduct scientific research related to climate change and its impact on the marine environment.