Canadian Coast Guard Fleet ‘Aging,’ With Some Exceeding Intended Lifespans: Report

The Canadian Coast Guard's medium icebreaker Henry Larsen is seen in Allen Bay during Operation Nanook near Resolute, Nunavut, on Aug. 25, 2010. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

An audit of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) has found that its vessels are aging, with some surpassing their expected lifespans, costing the agency nearly one-third of a billion dollars to maintain them in the 2022–23 fiscal year.

“The CCG fleet is aging as vessels approach and exceed their intended end of service life,” said auditors in a July report, “Evaluation of Fleet Procurement and Maintenance,” released to the public on Dec. 18.

The audit spanned across 124 active vessels. It was conducted by the evaluation division at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the CCG from April to November 2023.

Across the fleet, 30 percent of vessels have less than five years left until they reach their end of service life, wrote the auditors, as first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter. Twenty-seven percent have exceeded their service life by up to 14 years, and 6 percent have extended it by 17 to 36 years.

“As of 2023, the large fleet has reached 82% of its intended service life while the small fleet has reached 91% of its intended service life, on average,” they added.

The Canadian Coast Guard, whose mandate includes search and rescue mission, maritime security, and navigation aids, found that its specialty NavAids vessels, multi-tasked vessels, and small science vessels exceeded their expected lifespans by 156 percent, 101 percent, and 149 percent, respectively, during the audit period.

Patrol vessels were at 72 percent of their usual service life while icebreakers were at 83 percent.

“The age, condition, and obsolescence of CCG vessels and their electronics and informatics infrastructure represent a key risk to program delivery,” the report said.

In all, the cost of maintaining the fleet hit $320.5 million in fiscal year 2022–23, the auditors noted. They added that the coast guard lost between 7 percent and 12 percent of planned fleet operations vessel time due to repairs between the period of 2018–19 and 2020–21.

‘Facing Challenges’

The report said one of the factors affecting the coast guard’s ability to maintain its vessels is recruitment of new hires.

“The CCG is facing challenges recruiting and retaining qualified personnel due to a lack of qualified candidates on the market with certifications in relevant specialties,” it said.

“A high degree of competition between CCG, industry partners, as well as other government departments further complicates the CCG’s ability to attract, recruit and retain staff, particularly where better conditions exist (e.g., indeterminate status, lighter workloads).”

Other factors cited include budgetary constraints, spending limits, and challenges with the organizational structure.

The auditors also noted that the CCG’s fleet renewal and maintenance efforts have been affected by challenges in the Canadian ship and boat building sector, which has struggled to rebuild capacity following a decline in domestic demand for ships since 2010.

“The recent incidence of COVID-19 led to further disruptions in supply chains, workforce shortages, and increased costs,” they said.

National Defence Minister Bill Blair has factored the cost of Coast Guard repairs into Canada’s efforts to meet NATO spending targets for military preparedness recently. On July 11, he announced that Canada would fulfill its NATO obligation by 2032, committing to spend a minimum of 2 percent of GDP on defence.