Government agency
The Canadian Coast Guard ( CCG ; french : Garde côtière canadienne – GCC ) is the slide guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the seashore guard is tasked with marine search and rescue ( SAR ), communication, navigation, and department of transportation issues in canadian waters, such as navigation aids and icebreaking, marine pollution response, and support for other canadian government initiatives. The seashore guard duty operates 119 vessels of varying sizes and 23 helicopters, along with a assortment of smaller trade. The CCG is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, and is a extra engage agency within Fisheries and Oceans Canada ( Department of Fisheries and Oceans ) .

Role and responsibility [edit ]

Unlike armed coast guards of some other nations, the CCG is a politics marine arrangement without naval or law enforcement responsibilities. naval operations in Canada ‘s maritime environment are entirely the responsibility of the Royal Canadian Navy. enforcement of Canada ‘s maritime-related federal statutes may be carried out by peace officers serving with versatile federal, provincial or evening municipal law enforcement agencies. [ citation needed ] Although CCG personnel are neither a naval nor law enforcement push, they may operate CCG vessels in support of naval operations, or they may serve an functional character in the delivery of nautical law enforcement and security services in canadian union waters by providing a platform for personnel serving with one or more law enforcement agencies. The CCG ‘s duty encompasses Canada ‘s 202,080-kilometre ( 109,110 nmi ; 125,570 secret intelligence service ) long coastline. Its vessels and aircraft operate over an area of ocean and inland waters covering approximately 2.3 million square nautical miles ( 7.9×10^6 km2 ). [ citation needed ]

Reading: Canadian Coast Guard – Wikipedia

“ canadian Coast Guard services support government priorities and economic prosperity and contribute to the condom, handiness and security of canadian waters. ” [ 4 ] The CCG ‘s mandate is stated in the Oceans Act and the Canada Shipping Act. [ 4 ] The Oceans Act gives the curate of Fisheries and Oceans province for provide :

aids to navigation;
marine communications and traffic management services;
icebreaking and ice-management services;
channel maintenance;
marine search and rescue;
marine pollution response; and
support of other government departments, boards and agencies by providing ships, aircraft and other services.

The Canada Shipping Act gives the minister powers, responsibilities and obligations concerning :

aids to navigation;
Sable Island;
search and rescue;
pollution response; and
vessel traffic services.

insignia [edit ]

flag of the Honorary Chief Commissioner As a special operate agency within the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the CCG uses generic identifiers imposed by the Federal Identity Program. however, the CCG is one of several union departments and agencies ( primarily those involved with law enforcement, security, or having a regulative officiate ) that have been granted heraldic symbols. [ citation needed ] The CCG badge was in the first place approved in 1962. [ 1 ] Blue symbolizes water, white represents ice rink, and dolphins are considered a acquaintance of mariners. The Latin motto Saluti Primum, Auxilio Semper translates as “ Safety First, Service Always ”. [ 6 ] In addition to the Coast Guard laborer, [ 5 ] classifiable flags have been approved for function by senior CCG officials, including the Honorary Chief Commissioner ( the Governor General ) and the Minister of Transport. [ 7 ] The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary was granted a ease up and badge by the Canadian Heraldic Authority in 2012. [ 8 ]

history [edit ]

Predecessor agencies and geological formation ( 1867–1962 ) [edit ]

primitively a variety of federal departments and even the united states navy performed the work which the CCG does nowadays. Following alliance in 1867, the union government placed many of the responsibilities for maintaining aids to navigation ( chiefly lighthouses at the clock time ), marine guard, and search and rescue under the Marine Service of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, with some province 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 as separate of the Canadian Lifesaving Service ; the post at sable Island being one of the beginning in the nation. On the Pacific coast, the service operated the Dominion Lifesaving Trail ( now called the West Coast Trail ) which provided a rural communications route for survivors of shipwrecks on the treacherous Pacific Ocean coast off Vancouver Island. These stations maintained, sometimes sporadically in the earliest days, pulling ( rowed ) lifeboats manned by volunteers and finally motorize lifeboats. After the Department of Marine and Fisheries was split into divide departments, the Department of Marine continued to take province for the union politics ‘s coastal security services. During the inter-war period, the Royal Canadian Navy besides performed similar duties at a prison term when the dark blue was wavering on the point of becoming a civilian administration. Laws related to customs and tax income 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 department of commerce, culminating with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. The ship diligence was changing throughout eastern Canada and required an expanded federal government function in the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast, a well as an increased presence in the Arctic and Pacific coasts for sovereignty purposes. The politics of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker decided to consolidate the duties of the Marine Service of the Department of Transport and on January 26, 1962, the Canadian Coast Guard was formed as a auxiliary of DOT. One of the more noteworthy inheritances at the time of formation was the icebreaker Labrador, transferred from the Royal Canadian Navy .

expansion years ( 1962–1990 ) [edit ]

A period of expansion followed the creation of the CCG between the 1960s and the 1980s. The outdated ships the CCG inherited from the Marine Service were scheduled for replacement, along with dozens of new ships for the expanding function of the arrangement. Built under a complementary national shipbuilding policy which saw the CCG contracts go to Canadian shipyards, the newfangled ships were delivered throughout this golden senesce of the organization. In summation to expanded geographic responsibilities in the Great Lakes, the rise in coastal and ocean embark ranged from raw 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 extra ships and aircraft. The federal government besides began to develop a series of CCG bases near major ports and ship routes throughout southerly Canada, for exemplar Victoria, British Columbia, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and Parry Sound, Ontario. The expansion of the CCG fleet required raw seafaring and engineering officers, a well as crewmembers. To meet the early requirement, in 1965 the Canadian Coast Guard College ( CCGC ) opened on the early united states navy base HMCS Protector at Point Edward, Nova Scotia. By the late 1970s, the college had outgrown the temp navy facilities and a newly campus was opened in the adjacent community of Westmount in 1981 .
During the mid-1980s, the long-standing discrepancy between the U.S. and Canada over the legal condition of the Northwest passage came to a head after USCGC Polar Sea transited the passage in what were asserted by Canada to be canadian waters and by the U.S. to be external waters. During the period of increased patriotism that followed this event, the conservative government of Brian Mulroney announced plans to build several enormous icebreakers, the Polar 8 class which would be used chiefly for sovereignty patrols. however, the proposed Polar 8 course was abandoned during the late 1980s as part of general government budget cuts ; in their position, a program of vessel modernizations was instituted. extra 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. From its formation in 1962 until 1995, CCG was the duty of the Department of Transport. Both the department and CCG shared complemental responsibilities related to marine safety, whereby DOT had duty for implementing exile policy, regulations and base hit inspections, and CCG was operationally responsible for navigation safety and SAR, among others .

Budget cuts and bureaucratic oversight ( 1994–2005 ) [edit ]

Following the 1995 canadian federal budget, the federal politics announced that it was transferring duty for the CCG from the Department of Transport to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans ( DFO ). The reason for placing CCG under DFO was apparently to achieve monetary value savings by amalgamating the two largest civilian vessel fleets within the federal government under a single department. Arising out of this arrangement, the CCG became ultimately responsible for crewing, operational, and maintaining a larger fleet—both the master CCG fleet before 1995 of dedicated SAR vessels, Navaid tenders, and multi-purpose icebreakers along with DFO ‘s smaller fleet of scientific inquiry 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. There were good stumbling blocks arising out of this reorganization, namely in the different management practices and differences in organizational culture at DFO, versus DOT. DFO is dedicated to conservation and security of fish through enforcement whereas the CCG ‘s chief focus is marine safety and SAR. There were valid concerns raised within CCG about reluctance on the share of the marine community to ask for aid from CCG vessels since the CCG was being viewed as aligned with an enforcement department. In the early 2000s, the federal politics began to investigate the possibility of remaking CCG as a freestanding agency, thereby not falling under a specific functional department and allowing more functional independence .

special engage agency ( 2005 ) [edit ]

In one of several reorganization moves of the federal ministries following the swearing-in of Prime Minister Paul Martin ‘s cabinet on December 12, 2003, respective policy/regulatory responsibilities ( including boating safety and navigable waters security ) were transferred from CCG back to Transport Canada to provide a individual bespeak of liaison for issues related to marine base hit regulation and security, although CCG maintained an operational function for some of these tasks. The services offered by CCG under this arrangement admit :

Icebreaking and Arctic sovereignty protection
Marine search and rescue: primary marine SAR vessels, personnel to staff Joint Rescue Coordination Centres (JRCCs) trained and designated as maritime SAR co-ordinators per the Canada Shipping Act
Marine security: monitor vessel movements within Canadian waters, coordinate information to other government departments and agencies regarding 96-hour pre-arrival notification from vessels per the Marine Transportation Security Act, personnel to staff Marine Security Operations Centres (MSOCs)[9]
Environmental response: spill containment and clean-up
Marine navigation services including aids to navigation: buoy tending, light station keeping, beacon maintenance, publication of Notices to Mariners (NOTMAR) annually and monthly, and Notices to Shipping (NOTSHIP) as well as broadcasting safety Notices to Shipping over marine radio frequencies; and the publication of Radio Aids to Marine Navigation (RAMNav) and the List of Lights, Buoys & Fog Signals (Lights List)
Maritime mobile safety services: marine radio communications, electronic aids to radio navigation systems (e.g. LORAN, Differential GPS[10])
Vessel traffic services to co-ordinate vessel movement safety, monitoring vessel movements including 96-hour reporting protocol before vessels are permitted to enter Canadian waters
Support to fisheries research (as a platform)
Offshore, mid-shore and coastal fisheries enforcement (as a platform)
Integrated border-enforcement teams (IBETs) with the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency (as a platform)
Marine support to other federal government departments (as a platform)

On April 4, 2005, it was announced by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans that the CCG was being designated a “ especial operate on representation ” —the largest one in the federal government. Although the CCG distillery falls under the ministerial duty of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, it has more autonomy where it is not ampere tightly integrated within the department. An model is that now all CCG bases, aids to navigation, vessels, aircraft, and personnel are wholly the province of the Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, who is besides of assistant deputy ministerial rank. 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, besides headed by a Commissioner, toward that administration ‘s parent department, the Department of Public Safety. As of December 6, 2019, Mario Pelletier has been appointed the current Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard. The especial function representation reorganization is different from the past under both DOT and DFO where regional directors general for these departments were creditworthy for CCG operations within their respective regions ; this reportedly caused problems under DFO that did not occur under DOT. nowadays all operations of CCG are directed by the Commissioner, who reports immediately to the Deputy Minister of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. adjunct Commissioners are responsible for CCG operations within each region and they report immediately to the Commissioner. This management and fiscal flexibility is being enhanced by an increased budget for CCG to acquire new vessels and other assets to assist in its growing character in nautical security. CCG continues to provide vessels and crew for supporting DFO ‘s fisheries skill, enforcement, conservation, and protection requirements. The changes resulting in CCG becoming a particular operating means under DFO did not address some of the key concerns raised by an all-party Parliamentary committee investigating low esprit de corps among CCG employees following the remove from DOT to DFO and budget cuts since 1995. This committee had recommended that CCG become a separate agency under DOT and that its function be changed to that of an armed, paramilitary administration involved in nautical security by arming its vessels with deck guns, exchangeable to the United States Coast Guard, and that employees be given peace officer status for enforcing federal laws on the oceans and Great Lakes. As a compromise, the CCG immediately partners with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ( RCMP ) and Canada Border Services Agency ( CBSA ) to create what are known as integrated border-enforcement teams ( IBETs ), which patrol canadian waters along the Canada–United States frame .

Fleet modernization ( 1990–present ) [edit ]

In the 1990s–2000s, CCG modernized separate of its SAR fleet after ordering british Royal National Lifeboat Institution ( RNLI ) -designed Arun -class high-endurance lifeboat cutters for unfold coastal areas, and the USCG-designed 47-foot Motor Lifeboat ( designated by CCG as the Cape class ) as medium-endurance lifeboat cutters for the Great Lakes and more shelter coastal areas. The CCG ordered five 47-foot ( 14.3 meter ) motor lifeboats in September 2009, to add to the 31 existing boats. [ 11 ] New vessels delivered to the CCG from 2009 forth included the hovercraft CCGS Mamilossa [ 12 ] and the near-shore fisheries inquiry vessels CCGS Kelso [ 13 ] and CCGS Viola M. Davidson. [ 14 ] several major vessels have undergo extensive refits in recent decades, most notably CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent in seat of procuring the polar 8 class of icebreakers .
In the first base ten of the twenty-first hundred, CCG announced plans for the Mid Shore Patrol Vessel Project ( a class of nine vessels ) [ 15 ] [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] american samoa well as a “ arctic ” -class icebreaker – since named CCGS John G. Diefenbaker – in accession to inshore and offshore fisheries skill vessels and a new oceanographic inquiry vessel as share of efforts to modernize the fleet. In 2012, the Government of Canada announced procurement of 24 helicopters to replace the current evanesce. [ 19 ]

Modernizing the Coast Guard ‘s icebreakers [edit ]

The Coast Guard has acknowledged that it is not equitable Louis S. St. Laurent that is honest-to-god, and needs substitute, all its icebreakers are old. Some critics have argued that with ball-shaped warm, and the scramble for Arctic nations to document claims to a plowshare of the Arctic Ocean seafloor, Canada lacked sufficient icebreakers. In 2018 the Coast Guard started to publicly search for existing large, capable icebreakers it could purchase. On August 13, 2018, the Coast Guard confirmed it would be buying and retrofitting three large, icebreaking, anchor-handling tugs, Tor Viking, Balder Viking and Vidar Viking from Viking Supply Ships. [ 20 ] [ 21 ] On 22 May 2019, it was announced two more Harry DeWolf -class offshore patrol vessels will be built for the Canadian Coast Guard, in addition to the six being constructed for the Royal Canadian Navy. [ 22 ] Additionally, $ 15.7B was announced for the production of 16 extra multi-purpose vessels. [ 23 ]

organizational structure [edit ]

Map showing operating regions of the Canadian Coast Guard .

paramilitary social organization [edit ]

The Canadian Coast Guard is a civilian, paramilitary organization. The enforcement of laws in Canada ‘s territorial sea is the province of Canada ‘s federal patrol force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ( RCMP ) as all ocean waters in Canada are under federal ( not provincial ) legal power. Saltwater fisheries enforcement is a specific duty of DFO ‘s Fisheries Officers .
The CCG does not have a “ reserve ” chemical element. There is a canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary ( CCGA ) which is a separate non-profit organization composed of some 5,000 civilian volunteers across Canada who support research and rescue activities. CCG does not have a conventional paramilitary social station structure ; rather, its rank structure approximately approximates that of the civilian merchant marine. In former October 2010 the Stephen Harper government tabled a report that recommended that arming canadian Coast Guard icebreakers should be considered. [ 24 ] Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea presented the government ‘s response to a December 2009 report from the Senate ‘s Fisheries Committee, entitled “Controlling Canada’s Arctic Waters: Role of the Canadian Coast Guard.” [ 25 ] The Senate Committee ‘s report had besides recommended arming canadian Coast Guard vessels in the Arctic. Randy Boswell, of the Canwest News Service quoted Michael Byers, an expert on the law of the sea, who used the phrase “quiet authority of a deck-mounted gun”. [ 24 ]

running departments [edit ]

CCG ‘s management and organizational structure reflects its paramilitary nature. The head of CCG is called the “ Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard ”. The rank of “ Commissioner ” is used in other canadian federal agencies, such as the RCMP. however, rank and associated insignia are viewed differently in the CCG than in the Royal Canadian Navy.

Commissioner[26]	Term
Mario Pelletier	December 6, 2019 – Present (first commissioner to graduate from the Canadian Coast Guard College)[27]
Jeffery Hutchinson	March 13, 2017 – December 6, 2019
Jody Thomas	January 1, 2015 – March 13, 2017 (first female commissioner [28])
Marc Grégoire	June 28, 2010 – December 31, 2014
George Da Pont	May 9, 2006 – June 27, 2010
John Adams	July 1, 1998 – May 8, 2006
David B. Watters	January 1, 1997 – June 30, 1998
John F. Thomas	July 1, 1993 – December 31, 1996
Ranald A. Quail	January 1, 1984 – June 30, 1993
Andrew L. Collier	July 1, 1980 – December 31, 1983
William A. O’Neil	January 1, 1975 – June 30, 1980

The CCG agency supports several functional departments as outlined hera :

Operations Directorate
National Strategies Directorate
Integrated Technical Services Directorate
Major Projects Directorate
Integrated Business Management Services

functional regions [edit ]

CCG as a whole is divided into four operational regions : [ 29 ]

Atlantic Region
Central
Western Region
Arctic Region

In October 2018, the canadian Government announced the constitution of a one-fourth region, the Arctic. Previously province for the Arctic areas of Canada was split between the three existing regions. The modern whole includes a mandate which ensures increased support for Inuit communities, including search and rescue, icebreaking and for community resupply. The new region is headquartered in Yellowknife. [ 30 ]

Bases and stations [edit ]

equipment [edit ]

Marine Communications and Traffic Services [edit ]

Lighthouses and aids to seafaring [edit ]

CCG operates one of the largest networks of navigational buoys, lighthouses and foghorns in the world. These facilities assist marine navigation on the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic coasts angstrom well as selected inland waterways. CCG represents Canada at the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities ( IALA ). CCG completed a large-scale platform of beacon automation and de-staffing which began in 1968 and was largely completed in the 1990s. [ 31 ] The result of this course of study 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 nautical ship industry, such as the increased practice of GPS, electronic navigation charts and the Global Maritime Distress Safety System, has led CCG to undertake several service reviews for aids to navigation in recent decades. such reviews have resulted in the farther decommission of buoys and shore-based idle stations a well as a dramatic reduction in the number of foghorns. [ 32 ] canadian lightkeepers were advise September 1, 2009 that upper berth management was once again commencing the de-staffing process. The first circle, to be completed before the end of the fiscal year, was to include Trial Island, Entrance Island, Cape Mudge and Dryad Point. The second round included Green Island, Addenbroke, Carmanah Point, Pachena Pt and Chrome Island. The decision was taken without input or reference from the public or user-groups in malice of the fact that during the last round of de-staffing the public and user-groups speak vocally against cuts to this service. once again a large outshout forced Minister of Fisheries Gail Shea to respond and on September 30, 2009 she suspended the de-staffing process pending a review of services lightkeepers provide. [ 33 ] The Canadian Coast Guard besides produces the Notice to Mariners ( NOTMAR ) publication which informs mariners of important navigational safety matters affecting canadian waters. This electronic publication is published on a monthly footing and can be downloaded from the Notices to Mariners web site. The information in the Notice to Mariners is formatted to simplify the correction of newspaper charts and navigational publications published by the Canadian Hydrographic Service .

canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary [edit ]

The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary ( CCGA ), once the canadian Marine Rescue Auxiliary ( CMRA ), is a nonprofit organization organization of volunteer amateur boaters and commercial fishermen who assist CCG with research and rescue angstrom well as boating safety department of education. CCGA members who assist in SAR operations have their vessel policy covered by CCG, ampere good as any fuel and function costs associated with a particular tax. The CCGA enables the CCG to provide marine SAR coverage in many isolate areas of Canada ‘s coastlines without having to maintain an active base and/or vessels in those areas .

heritage [edit ]

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans, on behalf of the Canadian Coast Guard, is the custodian of many significant inheritance buildings, including the oldest beacon in North America, the Sambro Island Lighthouse. The department has selectively maintained some inheritance lighthouses and permitted some option use of its historic structures. however, many historic buildings have been neglected and the department has been accused of ignoring and abandoning even federally recognized buildings. Critics have pointed out that the department has lagged far behind other nations such as the United States in preserving its historic lighthouses. [ 34 ] These concerns have led community groups and inheritance construction advocates to promote the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act in the canadian Parliament. [ 32 ]

popular polish [edit ]

bounce 2008 saw the introduction of a weekly canadian television play on Global that was broadly based on the rescue operations of a assumed CCG place on the canadian west seashore called “ Port Hallet. ” This picture was conceived with the name Search and Rescue but debuted as The Guard and was filmed in and around Squamish, British Columbia. CCG assisted in production by providing operational props such as a centrifugal lifeboat, BO-105 helicopters and a hovercraft along with personnel. [ citation needed ]

Positions [edit ]

Vessels

Crew ranks – Logistics
- Cook
  - Assistant cooks
  - Waiter
- Steward
- Clerk / Storekeeper
Crew ranks – Engine room
- Engine rating / Technician
Crew ranks – Deck
- Seaman
- Twinehand
- Leading Seaman
- Winchman
- Boatswain
Crew ranks – Officers
- Electrical Officer
- Engineering Officer
- Logistics Officer
- Navigation Officer
Crew – Command Officer
- Captain

Onshore

Electronics technologist
Engineer
- Projects engineer
- Integrated technical service engineer
Marine Communications
- MCTS Officer
Administration
- Finance analyst
- Planner
- Human resources analyst
- Communications specialist
- Information technologist
Senior command
- Commissioner
- Deputy Commissioner
- Director general fleet services
- Superintendent

Rank insignia and badges [edit ]

Epaulettes [edit ]

military epaulettes are used to represent ranks. In the CCG they represent levels of duty and commensurate wage levels. The canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary epaulettes are alike except they use flatware braid to distinguish them from the Canadian Coast Guard .
branch is denoted by color fabric between the gold braid. Deck officers, helicopter pilots, hovercraft pilots and JRCC/MRSC marine SAR controllers do not wear any distinctive fabric .