Hydrographic surveys, charting and other nautical products form the foundation for safe marine navigation, allowing shipping to take place safely in charted Canadian waters. Canadian Arctic water represents an area of about 4 million km2. Given such a vast area, the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) prioritizes charting activities to improve the nautical charts’ where navigation takes place which represent about 10% of the Canadian Arctic water or 400 000km2.
In the North, maritime transportation is a key, and often only, means of transport to deliver goods and supplies to communities, accounting for over 95% of Arctic goods shipped to Northern communities. Additionally, as navigation becomes increasingly safer through Arctic waters, new opportunities for commercial shipping and tourism may emerge to support economic opportunities for Northerners over the long term.
Under Economic Action Plan 2015, the Canadian Hydrographic Service (a branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada that comprises Canada’s nautical charting authority) will acquire and install four state-of-the-art multibeam sonar systems aboard Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers in order to significantly increase the amount of seafloor surveying conducted annually in key Arctic routes.
$12.1 million over five years on a cash basis and $900,000 ongoing to procure hydrographic equipment and increase the surveying capacity for key Arctic routes.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada is receiving $12.1 million over five years to acquire and install four multibeam sonar systems onto Coast Guard icebreakers. These multibeam systems enable the hydrographic surveying of the ocean floor to modern standards. The installation of these multibeam systems (along with onboard hydrographers responsible for the systems) will allow the Canadian Hydrographic Service to seamlessly integrate data collection into regular Coast Guard operations, and set the foundation for the Arctic Survey and Charting Program.
Currently, the Canadian Hydrographic Service has opportunity-based access to two Canadian Coast Guard vessels equipped with multibeam technology, providing steady but limited capability due to the short arctic survey season. This access, and the results generated as a result of this collaboration, continues to demonstrate significant value in acquiring new data supporting survey and charting operations.
Ongoing funding of $900,000 will be directed towards ongoing maintenance, charting and survey activities.
Procuring Hydrographic Equipment And Increasing Surveying Capacity For Key Arctic Routes (Inuktitut version PDF)
