Canadian Coast Guard Moves From Fisheries to Defence Department

Canadian Coast Guard signage is shown in Vancouver on Aug. 17, 2024. The Canadian Press/Ethan Cairns

The Canadian Coast Guard has been moved under the purview of the Department of National Defence as Ottawa seeks to increase the agency’s role in asserting Canada’s sovereignty.

The signing of an Order in Council issued by cabinet on Sept. 2 has officially integrated the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) into the Department of National Defence (DND).  The transition will also include Fisheries and Oceans Canada personnel who assist the coast guard.

“I am honoured to welcome the Canadian Coast Guard to the Defence Team,” Defence Minister David McGuinty said in a Sept. 2 statement. “This transition is an important step that will allow us to better coordinate our efforts at sea, strengthen our response to new and evolving threats, and ensure the safety and security of Canadians.”

The DND called the move a “milestone” reflecting the federal government’s commitment to strengthening maritime security, collaboration, and Canada’s presence in its waters.

CCG will remain a civilian agency and will continue its search and rescue, icebreaking, environmental response, safe navigation, and ocean science operations, DND said.

Meanwhile, the federal government is proposing the expansion of the coast guard’s services to include maritime security activities under the government’s Strong Borders Act. The legislation, which is currently before Parliament, aims to strengthen Canada’s national security.

The move will allow the CCG, defence department, and the Canadian Armed Forces to share information and coordinate operations, which the DND says is “especially” important in the Arctic.

Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson says the move will “better integrate” the coast guard into Canada’s NATO defence capabilities, which is something Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged his government would do as part of his election campaign earlier this year.

“This is part of the government’s plan to build a safer and more secure Canada, and this transition strengthens its ability to deliver both civilian and maritime security responsibilities,” Thompson said.

NATO

Carney said in the Liberal Party platform that his government would give the CCG “a new mandate and the right equipment to conduct maritime surveillance operations.” The platform also pledged to integrate the coast guard into Canada’s NATO defence capabilities, a commitment that Carney vowed to meet in June.

The integration may also help Canada meet its commitment to its NATO defence spending target of 2 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), because a larger portion of the coast guard’s budget will be included under defence expenditures. The agency’s budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year is $2.39 billion, more than half of which is allocated for new ships, vessel life extensions, and refurbishing and replacing infrastructure and equipment, among other investments.

The CCG had a fleet of 126 vessels as of July, which include icebreakers, search and rescue lifeboats, patrol ships, science vessels, and hovercraft, among others.

A 2024 evaluation of the CCG’s fleet procurement and maintenance indicated that 18 of the CCG’s vessels have surpassed their typical service life, including specialized vessels that have exceeded their expected service life by 156 percent and small scientific vessels that have gone beyond their service life by 149 percent.

Meanwhile, many others are nearing the end of their lifespan, including 19 special purpose small vessels that have reached 98 percent of their usual service life, 10 icebreakers at 83 percent, and 59 SAR vessels at 82 percent.

The CCG’s biggest challenges include recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, budgetary constraints, and spending limits, according to the evaluation.

Defence Expenditures

NATO defines defence expenditures as “payments made by a national government specifically to meet the needs of its armed forces,” which it says includes land, maritime, and air forces. The alliance says it can also include “other forces,” such as national police forces and coast guards.

The alliance says that in the cases of “other forces,” expenditure is included as part of defence spending “in proportion to the forces that are trained in military tactics, are equipped as a military force, can operate under direct military authority in deployed operations, and can, realistically, be deployed outside national territory in support of a military force.”

While some of the CCG’s budget had already fallen under NATO defence spending, Canada’s move to integrate the CCG into its defence department will allow more of the agency’s budget to be allocated.

Lt.-Gen. Stephen Kelsey told a Senate committee in June there were no plans to arm the CCG as it gains a new security mandate, adding that Ottawa will only count “a little more” of the CCG’s annual budget toward its NATO spending.

Canada has long fallen short of meeting NATO’s guideline of spending 2 percent of GDP on defence. Canada was one among nine countries out of the 31 in the defence alliance not meeting the target, according to 2024 NATO estimates. Carney said in June that Canada would meet the target this year and he supported NATO’s decision earlier this summer to raise the benchmark to 5 percent by 2035.

Matthew Horwood and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.