Volunteer Marine Search and Rescue

As an integral part of the Canadian Search and Rescue (SAR) system, the mission of Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCM-SAR) is to provide a volunteer marine rescue service and to promote public boating safety on the lakes, the inland straits and waters, and the Pacific Ocean coast of British Columbia in Canada.

The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary -Pacific rebranded to Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue in May 2012 to reiterate the fact that we are a non profit organization and  our crews are all volunteers.  To stay up-to-date on Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue, please visit:  rcmsar.com.  

The Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue formerly the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (Pacific) is a volunteer organisation of over 1,000 people from many backgrounds who give up a great deal of their own time to train, be trained, and be on standby, in case they are needed to respond to a marine emergency on the water. These volunteers have the use of modern well equipped rescue vessels that are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
 
The rescue vessels used are, for the most part, rigid hull inflatables. Most of the fleet of 41 vessels are less than 5 years old, and owned by societies local to the area where their vessels operate. The funds for building these vessels has to a large degree been provided by BC Gaming, as well as through significant corporate contributions, legacies, private donations and fundraising. Donations have also paid for much of the volunteers´ protective clothing as well as the equipment on board. Many thanks goes to these contributors.
 
Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue's area of operations is based on the Pacific coast of British Columbia which has more than 27,000 kilometres of rugged coastline, over 6,000 islands (most uninhabited), and approximately 450,000 square kilometres of internal and offshore waters.

It is a challenge to provide search and rescue response capability to such a large area, and our volunteers meet the challenge with determination and professionalism, and assist those in peril on the sea.

Overall Stats (Last 12 Months)
Units	61
Assets	69
Personnel (crew)	954
Personnel (non-crew)	100
SAR Missions	699
Total Mission Hours	1351.14
Training Exercises	2408
Total Training Hours	5466.75
Classroom Sessions	1472
Total Classroom Hours	2602.75
Other Activities	3504
Total Activity Hours	6055.73
Total Hours	15476.37
Person Hours	65538.18
People Assisted	658
People Saved	434
Property Value	$17,443,423.00