SAR - 1.0 RESPONSIBLE AUTHORITY

• 1.1 General
• 1.2 Types of Service Available
• 1.3 SAR Agreements

  1.1 General

SAR service in Canada was established in accordance with the provisions of ICAO Annex 12. The Canadian Forces are responsible for conducting SAR operations for aeronautical incidents in Canada.

Aeronautical SAR service is provided through three joint rescue co-ordination centres (JRCC), located at Victoria, B.C., Trenton, Ont., and Halifax, N.S. The JRCCs control all rescue units in their region through an extensive civil/military communications network. The addresses of the JRCCs are:

VICTORIA
(serving British Columbia and the Yukon)

Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria
P.O. Box 17000 Station Forces
Victoria BC  V9A 7N2
Tel.: 1-800-567-5111 (within region)
250-363-2333
#SAR or #727 (toll-free cellular)

TRENTON
(serving Alberta, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, western Nunavut, Ontario, western Quebec, Saskatchewan)

Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton
P.O. Box 1000 Station Forces
Astra ON  K0K 3W1
Tel.: 1-800-267-7270 (within Canada)
613-965-3870

HALIFAX
(serving New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, eastern Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, eastern Quebec)

Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax
P.O. Box 99000 Station Forces
Halifax NS  B3K 5X5
Tel.: 1-800-565-1582 (within region)
902-427-8200

NOTE: All JRCCs will accept collect telephone calls dealing with missing or overdue air or marine craft.

  1.2 Types of Service Available

Aeronautical SAR service is available continuously throughout Canada and the Canadian territorial coastal water areas of the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic. Canadian Forces SAR units are equipped with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to conduct searches and provide rescue, including rescue specialists (search and rescue technicians) who are capable of parachuting into remote locations. These rescue personnel can render initial medical aid and provide emergency supplies and survival support. Volunteers of the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA), organized in units across the country, assist the Canadian Forces with aeronautical SAR cases.

Workload permitting, JRCC personnel are prepared to present briefings on SAR services and techniques to the public and aviation groups on request. With prior notice, visits to JRCCs are encouraged.

Other major SAR providers in Canada include the Canadian Coast Guard, which has primary responsibility for marine incidents along Canada’s ocean coasts, and in the waters of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System. Provincial and territorial governments, usually through their police service, respond to SAR incidents involving persons on land, or on inland waterways. Parks Canada’s Warden Service is responsible for ground or inland water SAR within National Parks. Across Canada, trained volunteers also play a key role in providing SAR services to the public. As mutual aid is one of the strengths of Canada’s SAR system, the JRCCs may call upon any of these other providers, as well as the private sector, to assist with an aeronautical SAR case.

  1.3 SAR Agreements

Two bilateral agreements relating to aeronautical SAR exist between Canada and the United States. The first permits public aircraft of either country that are engaged in aeronautical SAR operations to enter or leave the other country without being subject to normal immigration or customs formalities. The second agreement permits vessels and wrecking appliances of either country to render aid and assistance on specified border waters and on the shores and in the waters of the other country along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts within a distance of 30 NM from the international boundary on those coasts.

In situations not covered by the agreements above, requests from the United States for aircraft of their own registry to participate in a SAR operation within Canada may be addressed to the nearest JRCC. The JRCC would reply and issue appropriate instructions.

Figure 1.1 – Search and Rescue Regions (SRR)