Common menu bar

Breadcrumb

OPERATIONS & EXERCISES

As a nation with only one international land border, yet over 240,000 km of coastline, safeguarding Canada's maritime approaches is vitally important to our national security. The Navy works in close cooperation with other government departments to deal with a range of security threats to Canada, including the threats of terrorism, illegal resource exploitation, pollution violations, narcotics trafficking and illegal immigration. The Navy safeguards Canadians at home by:

conducting surveillance of Canada's coastal areas;
determining who is operating in our waters, why they are there and what they are doing;
providing government with the means to find, intercept and board suspicious vessels at sea before they reach Canadian territory; and
Providing government with the means to take military action to defeat any armed threat to Canadian security posed by other nations or terrorists.

The requirement to defend Canada extends well beyond our own shores. Canadian security begins overseas. Warships can be dispatched quickly to an area of concern to Canada, and they can fulfill a wide range of tasks ranging from humanitarian assistance missions to the provision of warships for combat operations.

The Canadian Navy also deploys major combatants on sustained operations abroad to interdict those that would use the sea for unlawful purposes, as well as to defend Canada's broader national interests.

The Navy's many deployments, visits, and exercises also support foreign policy by demonstrating Canada's interest in the international community, building confidence and relationships with other nations, and supporting Canadian diplomatic efforts across the globe.