Canada to Trial Maritime Awareness System

The Government of Canada has provided over $2.5 million to four British Columbia coastal communities to increase availability of maritime data as part of the nation's Oceans Protection Plan.

The funding will go to the Council of the Haida Nation and the Gitga’at Nation, who are hosting two pilot projects on the North and Central Coast of British Columbia, and to the T’Sou-ke Nation and the Pacheedaht Nation, who are hosting a shared pilot project on the South Coast of Vancouver Island.

Transport Canada is working with the Indigenous and coastal communities to identify the type of information that should be included in the web-based system. It will display a range of near real-time data and maritime information, including vessel traffic and weather information. 

The funding will provide the communities with the ability to install the infrastructure needed to test the new system over the course of a year, starting in spring 2019.

The Government of Canada has announced initiatives worth more than $600 million under the Oceans Protection Plan. The five-year, $62.5 million Enhanced Maritime Situational Awareness Initiative was announced in November 2017. Transport Canada is making up to $9.8 million over two years available to support the implementation of the Enhanced Maritime Situational Awareness initiative pilot projects.

Canada has announced a range of coastal protection measures under the Oceans Protection Plan including a contract for Aqua-Guard Spill Response from British Columbia for new multi-cassette portable skimmer packages to recover marine pollution spills. Over $167 million has been assigned to whale research, including the survival risks faced by the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale. The ultimate aim is to implement regulatory and other measures to reduce underwater noise from vessels.