2002 December Report of the Auditor General of Canada

Determining levels of service

The Canadian Coast Guard has not adequately analyzed the needs of mariners and has not defined the extent and quality of services provided. As a result, the ability to plan and control Coast Guard activities is weakened.

Improved program efficiency

Cost savings in the range of $10 million to $20 million annually are possible if the Coast Guard implements the following improvements in its activities:

• completes the lighthouse automation program started in 1970 but which has, in essence, been put on hold;
• revises its standards for checking and maintaining buoys;
• reassesses the continuing need and specific equipment requirements for some of its Vessel Traffic Service systems; and
• increases the automation and consolidation of the Coast Guard radio stations.

Weaknesses in planning, operations, and the information used to manage marine programs

There is insufficient overall analysis of need or assessment of which port would benefit most from Vessel Traffic Service systems. These systems were established in response to major marine incidents.

The Coast Guard has not adequately reviewed the continuing need for each of its 272 lightstations, although, at an average annual operating cost of $125,000 each, they are the most expensive aids it operates.

The Coast Guard has not assessed the impact of adopting improved electronic aids such as radar, Loran-C, and racons on the more traditional aids such as lightstations or radio beacons.

Performance measurement

In many areas such as buoys and lightstations, the Department lacks adequate cost information to allow managers to decide whether a given type of aid or a given district is being operated in the most efficient manner.

Risk assessment

Marine safety is best achieved by following a comprehensive and co-ordinated program based on a systematic assessment of risk, and by carrying out an appropriate mix of activities, within resource limits, to minimize risk.

Although the Department collects data on the marine incidents it investigates, it does not systematically analyse all these data to monitor relative levels of marine safety by type of traffic and degree of risk.