Canadian Coast Guard fleet

The Canadian Coast Guard fleet of vessels delivers the on-water portion of our mandated programs, including:

Icebreaking
Aids to Navigation
Search and Rescue
Environmental Response
Waterways Management

The fleet supports Fisheries and Oceans Canada as they carry out science and conservation and protection operations. It also supports commercial fishing, maritime transportation, shipping and tourism industries as well as recreational boating.

Our fleet of red and white ships, helicopters and air cushion vehicles is an iconic symbol of maritime safety and the sovereignty of Canadian waters.

Agency support

Our vessels are Canada’s only civilian fleet that supports the mandates of other government departments and agencies, such as:

the RCMP
Parks Canada
Transport Canada
Public Safety Canada
Natural Resources Canada
Canada Border Services Agency
Ecosystems and Oceans Science
the Department of National Defence
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Fisheries and Oceans Canada Conservation and Protection
National Defense

Vessel types

The fleet is comprised of several types of vessels as well as helicopters to deliver on-water services. It includes:

training vessels
specialty vessels
chartered vessels
air cushion vehicles
special navaids vessels
mid-shore patrol vessels
channel survey and sounding vessels

The fleet has a further 4 types of vessel with distinct classes of their own.

Icebreakers

Our icebreaking fleet includes:

light icebreakers
heavy icebreakers
medium icebreakers

Multi-purpose icebreakers

Our fleet includes 3 different types of multi-purpose icebreakers:

offshore patrol class
high endurance class
medium endurance class

Science and research vessels

Our science and research vessels include:

mid shore science vessels
offshore fishery science vessels
offshore oceanic science vessels
near-shore fishery research vessels

Search and rescue lifeboats

Our fleet includes the following classes of lifeboat:

Bay class
Arun class
Cape class
Sound class

Vessel services and information

Our vessels deliver specific services and programs but can be multitasked. In an emergency they may be assigned other missions such as search and rescue, environmental response or humanitarian work.

The number of vessel crew members depends largely on the size of the vessel.

Our database provides information about all of our vessels, including:

name
home port
class
function

Helicopters

Helicopter services are a key part of our readiness profile and response capability. We rely on air transportation while protecting and serving the roughly 7 million Canadians living in coastal areas.

Our logged flying hours are made up of:

65% marine traffic safety
15% icebreaking operations
20% among other coast guard programs and government departments

Our specific activities depend on the needs of the program or department we support.

Operations

Fleet vessels operate in all domestic waters of Canada, such as:

the Great Lakes
inland areas such as:
- Lake Winnipeg
- Lake of the Woods
- the Mackenzie River
the Gulf of St. Lawrence
the St. Lawrence Seaway
the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans

Larger vessels are often tasked to international ports for various activities.

In Canada, operating in ice is a factor which limits operations to larger vessels that have been designed to operate in or where ice may be present. Seasonal vessels are removed from service when ice may be present.

Gallery

High endurance multi-tasked vessel CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Offshore patrol vessel CCGS Leonard J. Cowley

Channel survey and sounding vessel CCGS Helen Irene Battle

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2026-02-10