Canadian Coast Guard Information Kit

Waterways Management Services

The Waterways Management program enables the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) to help ensure safe and efficient navigation, supports protection of the marine environment, and facilitates marine trade and commerce.

The core activities of the program include:

• providing channel design guidelines to help ensure that ship channel design, maintenance and usage is safe, efficient and environmentally sound;
• maintaining the international shipping channels in the Great Lakes system;
• managing the maintenance of the St. Lawrence ship channel;
• providing channel safety information to users, such as channel bottom conditions and water-depth forecasts;
• operating/maintaining channel marine structures, such as ice control structures;
• operating the Canso Canal; and
• supporting the International Joint Commission in controlling levels and flows in the St. Lawrence River system.

Waterways Management sustains navigable channels, reduces marine navigation risks and supports environmental protection. This program is delivered, in part, with the support of CCG’s operationally capable and ready fleet.

The program provides significant economic benefits to the marine shipping industry as well as economic and social benefits to the public.

The benefits to marine shipping include:

• increased freight revenues, as a result of the ability to load deeper because of fore-knowledge of available safe channel depth (that is, data from bottom sounding surveys combined with water level forecasts);
• reduced transit times, again because of the channel safety information provided to the mariner (bottom surveys and water level forecasts);
• reduced insurance rates and legal costs as a result of safe channel design, maintenance practices and safety information, as well as fewer accidents; and
• more business to Canadian ports as a result of safe, reliable, economic channel navigation.

Safe and efficient channels benefit Canadians in general by:

• reducing the transportation component of the price of goods;
• avoiding the high social costs of marine accidents including impacts on local economies and environmental consequences;
• contributing to achievement of environmental commitments by supporting the use of a highly fuel efficient mode of transportation;
• maintaining Canada’s reputation as a preferred trading partner;
• enhancing the competitiveness of Canadian industry; and
• maintaining Canada’s reputation, including internationally, as doing our part to support marine transportation.

There are more than 100,000 transits in our waters each year, including some 36,000 domestic and commercial arrivals. Millions of recreational and touring boaters also use our commercial waterways each year.

Two thousand kilometres of our 7,000 kilometres of commercial waterways are classified as ’confined in width‘ and ’restricted in depth‘ for the large ships that use them.