Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary

CCGA and CMRA redirect here. For other uses of "CMRA," please see CMRA .

The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary or CCGA (French: Garde côtière auxiliaire canadienne or GCAC) is a Canada-wide volunteer marine association dedicated to marine search and rescue (SAR) and the promotion of boating safety, through association with the Canadian Coast Guard under the auspices of Canada's National Search and Rescue Program.

History

Coastal lifesaving stations manned by volunteers pre-dates Canadian Confederation (1867). The country's first motorized lifeboat, also operated by volunteers, was put into service in Canada in 1907 at Bamfield, British Columbia.

Formal responsibility for organizing and overseeing search and rescue in Canada was given to the Minister of National Defence in 1951 and was largely exercised by the Royal Canadian Air Force which organized rescue coordination centres (RCCs) to manage RCAF SAR response activities.

Changes to the Canada Shipping Act in 1961 and the formation of the Canadian Coast Guard in 1962 paved the way for the Minister of Transport to designate CCG 'marine rescue controllers' within the RCAF rescue co-ordination centres, which were renamed joint rescue coordination centres (JRCCs) denoting the dual role of air and marine search and rescue as well as the joint operation by RCAF and CCG.

CCG search and rescue officials first recognized volunteers formally in 1963, the year after the establishment of the CCG as a separate entity from...
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