Question Period Note: Portfolio Shift to Strengthen the Canadian Coast Guard's Security Role

• Canada is rebuilding and reinvesting in security and defence to strengthen its sovereignty and safeguard its interests.
• Recent efforts to expand services for the Canadian Coast Guard to include security activities recognizes their presence, capabilities and the extensive knowledge they have of Canada’s coasts and waterways.
• The Prime Minister will soon initiate the process of moving the Canadian Coast Guard to the leadership of the Minister of National Defence.
• The change will permit the Canadian Coast Guard to better fulfill both its civilian and security responsibilities.
• As this process unfolds, the Canadian Coast Guard will continue to carry out its vital work under the leadership of the Minister of Fisheries.

• The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) is a Special Operating Agency, with a presence on all coasts, in the Great Lakes and the St-Lawrence. As the largest on water presence in Canada, and often the only visible federal presence in the North, CCG operates 125 ships, 23 helicopters, a network of communications towers, operational centres, and sensors across the country.
• Currently, CCG can only collect information for safety purposes and cannot collect and share information for security purposes. This creates a gap in Canada’s ability to understand what is taking place in the maritime domain, including in the Arctic.
• Tabled on June 3, 2025, Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act, includes proposed amendments to the Oceans Act to expand the services of CCG to include security activities. These amendments would mean that the information collected and reported during regular operations could now also be used for security purposes, which was previously not possible.
• These amendments will enable CCG to conduct security and surveillance patrols, which could include, for example, monitoring suspicious vessels near the border or in remote Northern locations, and sharing the information collected with intelligence, security, and defence partners.
• With ‘security’ as part of its services, CCG will be able to leverage all of its assets, vessels, sensors, and extensive presence across the country and in remote Northern locations to support Canada’s security and sovereignty. CCG will also be able to provide information about the maritime domain to domestic and international security partners, where information-sharing agreements exist.
• This will increase interoperability with the Department of National Defence and other security, defence, and intelligence partners, and respond to the call from international allies to secure the Arctic, and from the United States to increase border security.
• It is anticipated that partners and stakeholders will welcome this change as it will leverage CCG’s extensive presence from coast to coast to coast and in the Great Lakes and St-Lawrence to better safeguard Canada’s interests.
• This will increase CCG’s contributions to Canada’s defence expenditures to meet NATO defence spending targets. Final numbers will be reviewed in collaboration with the Department of National Defence.
• CCG has well established partnerships with Indigenous groups in the area of marine safety, particularly Indigenous coastal communities. CCG will uphold legal obligations and will continue to work with Indigenous groups as new security services are implemented.
• CCG remains a civilian agency committed to its safety services and programs. These amendment do not seek enforcement or interdiction powers, and are not intended to turn CCG into a military or law enforcement agency. Those functions would continue to be retained by federal partners that already have authorities in those spaces.
• CCG will continue to deliver its current suite of programs and services, including marine safety, icebreaking, and the provision of platforms for oceans science while also better supporting the security and sovereignty of Canada.

If pressed
• Further details will be shared as the process moves forward.