Thursday, March 30, 2017

For the Canadian Coast Guard, the employment ship is coming in

A strong surge of hiring is ahead for the Canadian Coast guard, with the government agency set to hire over 500 workers across Canada through this year, with over 150 positions to be made available in British Columbia.

The employment push comes as the Federal Government prepares to move forward with the ambitious Ocean Protection Plan that it outlined last November,

As we noted on the blog at that time, the Coast Guard was considered a key element of that protection program, with the Government announcing plans to create Community Response Teams in coastal communities along the BC coast.

Port Hardy had a primary focus at that time selected as a key staging site for Marine Response services, and it's expected that some of the new employment push will come from those plans.

As part of the government program Coast guard vessels will receive additional resources for marine rescue work, while Communication services on the West coast will also continue to see additional resources directed to facilities.

Unifor, the Union that represents workers with the Coast Guard however have taken note that none of the positions will replace retiring workers, nor do they address the cuts made by the previous government of Stephen Harper, when the Federal government reduced the Coast Guards footprint in a number of communities.

The union also has concerns as to long term funding for the Ocean protection plan, noting that the Trudeau government has only put funding in place for a five year period as part of the program.


The Coast Guard Vessel Tanu tied up at the
Prince Rupert Coast Guard Base at Seal Cove

Still, for those looking for a job with the Coast Guard the next few months should provide a good opportunity to sign on, with job fairs planned across the country to outline what is being offered.

Even as the Coast Guard makes its plans to take on additional staff nationwide, Prince Rupert features prominently in positions currently identified as availalbe with DFO or Coast Guard.

With the following positions listed on the Coast Guard Employment website today:


The Marine Communications program has been part of an ongoing recruitment process, in late November we outlined the Coast Guards engagement on the North Coast as they put a focus on local First Nations and coastal residents, making note of the unique knowledge of the region that local applicants could have to offer the service.

You can learn more about the range of career opportunities that the Coast Guard has to offer here, it's a site worth book marking for future use as the expansion program begins to gather steam over the next few months.

More background on the Coast guard plans can be reviewed from a range of media stories from the last few days.

Canadian Coast Guard needs new recruits
Canadian Coast Guard on hiring blitz, 150 positions in B.C.
Canadian Coast Guard hiring spree in B.C.

For more items related to the work of Emergency Services in the Northwest see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

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