Today, Minister Anandasangaree highlighted an $816M investment over seven years to strengthen maritime security and expand the Canadian Coast Guard's role in monitoring Canada's waters.
Through new authorities under the Strengthening Canada's Immigration Systems and Borders Act, the Canadian Coast Guard is enhancing its role in protecting Canada's waters, including using its vessels, helicopters, sensors, operational centres, and shore-based assets to collect, receive, share, and analyze information for improved security and sovereignty.
Key initiatives to enhance the Canadian Coast Guard's maritime domain awareness and visibility throughout the Great Lakes include:
- A 24/7 Marine Security Operations Centre in Niagara. This will deliver continuous monitoring and real-time data integration, enhancing situational awareness and enabling faster, coordinated enforcement across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region. enforcement actions across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region.
- Up to 11 radar sites at strategic locations along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence to address existing gaps in maritime domain awareness and improve monitoring in key areas.
Autonomous systems, including drones, are enhancing the Canadian Coast Guard's ability to monitor and respond across Canada's waters by extending operational reach from both land and vessels. Equipped with advanced sensors and cameras, these uncrewed aerial and subsurface platforms improve situational awareness, reduce operational costs and risks to personnel, and support real-time information sharing with federal partners-particularly in remote and Arctic regions.
In parallel, the Canadian Coast Guard is investing in new capabilities to enhance how it collects and shares information on marine activity. This includes the installation of advanced camera systems on Coast Guard ships and helicopters, improving the quality of data collected and enabling the rapid dissemination of actionable maritime domain awareness to defence, law enforcement, and security partners.
Canada must be able to detect and respond to all activities within its waters. With its fleet and operational expertise, the Canadian Coast Guard is well positioned to advance national maritime security priorities across the country, in collaboration with the Department of National Defence, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canada Border Services Agency, and other key partners.
