Canadian Hydrographic Service
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Service hydrographique du Canada - SHC | |
Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard | |
Agency executive |
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Parent agency | Fisheries and Oceans Canada Science Sector |
Website | http://www.charts.gc.ca |
Retired Canadian Hydrographic Service logo or crest
The Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) is part of the federal department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and is Canada's authoritative hydrographic office. The CHS represents Canada in the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO).
Administration and mandate
The CHS is administratively part of Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Oceans and Ecosystems Science Sector. According to mandated obligations of the Oceans Act and the Canada Shipping Act, the CHS is led by the Hydrographer General of Canada who is responsible for gathering, managing, transforming and disseminating bathymetric, hydrographic and nautical data and information into paper and electronic nautical charts, as well as publications and “hydrospatial” (blue geospatial) data and services, including updating services of: broadcast Navigational Warnings and/or Notices to Mariners; and, other publications, data and services of: Tide & Current Tables; water levels observations in near-real time, real-time and forecasting; Sailing Directions and hydrospatial dynamic data, products and services primarily for safe and efficient navigation in Canadian waters and much more.
CHS is responsible for leading and coordinating the Government of Canada's implementation of a Marine Spatial (Hydrospatial) Data Infrastructure (MSDI) as a key oceans and freshwater component of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI). MSDI compatible and interoperable globally within the directions and framework of the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (
History
Prior to Confederation, responsibilities for hydrographic survey and chart production in British North America rested with the Royal Navy.[1]
In 1882, the loss of the steamship SS Asia on an uncharted shoal in Georgian Bay resulted in 150 fatalities and was Canada's worst maritime disaster at the time. On August 13, 1883, the Dominion government established the Georgian Bay Survey which was empowered by legislation with the responsibility to survey and chart navigable waters of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.
Surveying and charting was extended to Canada's
In 1904, a
Technology
CHS is a world leader in the adoption of hydrographic survey technology, as well as in research and development. With responsibility for charting the world's longest coastline (243,792 kilometres) as well as 6.55 million square kilometres of continental shelf and territorial waters (second largest in the world), including extensive inland waterways such as the St. Lawrence Seaway, CHS maintains a world-record inventory of more than 1,000 published charts. As such, the organization was an early adopter of single-beam sonar, radio-navigation positioning systems, and computer processing and storage.
The joint Canada-U.S.
CHS has migrated from single-beam sonar to becoming a major user of multi-beam echo-sounder sonar systems coupled with
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Unlike most nations, CHS is not part of Canada's
The incumbent of the Director General of CHS position is also called the "Hydrographer General of Canada" to reflect the important liability associated with the responsibilities coming from the previous original title, "Dominion Hydrographer," which dates to the earliest days of hydrographic surveying in Canada.
CHS offices
- CHS Dartmouth Office, Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO), Dartmouth, Nova Scotia - Lynn Patterson, Director also responsible for the CHS, St. John's NL Satellite Office
- CHS Sidney Office, Institute of Ocean Sciences (IOS), Sidney, British Columbia - Mariah McCooey, Director
- CHS St. John's Satellite Office, Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre (NAFC), St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador - Lynn Patterson, Director + Jason Bartlett, Manager.
- CHS Mont-Joli Office, Mont-Joli, Quebec- Mme Annie Biron, Director, Directrice
- CHS Burlington Office, Canada Centre for Inland Waters (CCIW), Burlington, Ontario - Chris Marshall, Director
- CHS Ottawa Office, Ottawa, Ontario – Manon Larocque, Hydrographer General of Canada and Director General of CHS + Chris Hemmingway, Director Hydrography and Marine Spatial (Hydrospatial) Data Infrastructure (MSDI) + Louis Maltais, Director, Marine Geospatial Services and Support.
- CHS Alberta Office, Bayfield Institute, Canada Centre for Inland Waters
- CHS New Brunswick Office, Bedford Institute of Ocean Sciences
Notes and references
- ^ a b c d "The Canadian Hydrographic Service" (PDF). Ontario Professional Surveyor. 32 (4). Association of Ontario Land Surveyors: 22–23. 1989. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.