The Connected Coast Network and the Canadian Coast Guard are pleased to announce improved connectivity at Coast Guard’s remote Light Stations and Lifeboat Stations. Through collaboration and partnership, the Canadian Coast Guard, the Strathcona Regional District, and CityWest expanded the Connected Coast network to equip 16 remote stations with state-of-the-art fibre-optic connectivity. The Connected Coast Network is currently under construction, and this summer the design of the network has already provided high-speed internet access for Canadian Coast Guard stations at Bella Bella, Bonilla Island, Boat Bluff, Dryad Point, and Addenbroke Island. Three further sites – Scarlett Point, Pulteney Point and Chatham Point – will be connected this fall. Improved connectivity along B.C.’s rugged coastline enhances marine safety and modernizes communication infrastructure. Coast Guard personnel will have the added capacity to communicate with internal and external response partners. The addition of these stations to the Connected Coast Project will: Contribute to the overall safety of mariners on the coast of British Columbia Improve Coast Guard’s capabilities to remotely monitor equipment, systems, and facilities. Provide staff working in remote locations with more reliable access to online resources and training. In addition to providing service to Canadian Coast Guard stations, the infrastructure at the sites bolsters the network and will enable the provision of internet services to neighbouring communities. This partnership also provided an opportunity to use funding from Natural Resource Canada’s Grants and Contributions program to install Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) sensors in key Connected Coast locations, including at some of the Coast Guard’s remote stations. The EEW system will provide valuable time to notify residents and critical infrastructure operators of an earthquake. Overall, improved internet connectivity at Canadian Coast Guard light stations and Lifeboat stations plays a crucial role in modernizing these facilities, improving their capabilities, and ensuring the safety of maritime activities along the BC coastline. -##- Media Contact – Renée LaBoucane – SRD Manager, Strategic Initiatives 250-830-6711 | rlaboucane@srd.ca About the Connected Coast Network – www.connectedcoast.ca The Connected Coast Network is bringing new or improved high-speed internet accessibility to 139 rural and remote coastal communities, including 48 Indigenous communities – representing 44 First Nations – along the BC coast from north of Prince Rupert, to Haida Gwaii, south to Vancouver, and around Vancouver Island (bringing potential benefit to 175,000 British Columbians, living in 90,000 households). This enhanced connectivity will be provided via a new, purpose-built, subsea fibre-optic cable. The Connected Coast Network is a partnership between CityWest Telephone Corporation and the Strathcona Regional District. About the Strathcona Regional District – www.srd.ca The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) is the government body providing services to over 48,000 residents within north-central Vancouver Island, Discovery Islands, and mainland area inlets, representing four electoral areas, a treaty First Nation and five-member municipalities. About CityWest – www.citywest.ca City West has over 110 years of service as a company that has a profound impact on the communities we serve because we a locally owned and locally based. We live and work in the same communities that our customers do. Our local distinction and our partnerships are what makes us unique and allows us to offer a competitive advantage. CityWest is proud to provide a superior customer experience to our customers across B.C., who subscribe to Internet, TV, and phone services. About the Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard operates 13 Lifeboat Stations, four seasonal Inshore Rescue Stations, and a network of almost 4.000 Aids to Navigation – including 27 staff light stations – on the British Columbia coast. Most of these stations serve remote communities and areas of the British Columbia coast year-round as part of a comprehensive network of vessels, aids to navigation, stations and vessel traffic services that keep mariners safe, protect the marine environment, support Canada’s economic growth through the safe and efficient movement of maritime trade, and help ensure our country’s sovereignty and security through our presence in Canadian waters. About Natural Resources Canada – https://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/eew-asp/system-en.php NRCan is developing a national EEW system for areas of moderate-to-high risk in the country, focusing on western BC, eastern Ontario, and southern Quebec. EEW is the rapid detection of earthquakes, real-time estimation of the shaking hazard, and notification of expected shaking. EEW provides seconds to tens-of-seconds of notice prior to the arrival of strong shaking, allowing people and systems to take protective actions. The Canadian EEW system will therefore strengthen the resilience of communities and critical infrastructure to earthquakes. NRCan’s Earthquake Early Warning Grants and Contributions program is funding several initiatives which will improve the effectiveness of EEW in Canada. One such initiative is the installation of EEW stations at Strathcona Regional District’s (SRD) sites of interest, which will support SRD’s regional public safety objectives. SRD’s stations enhance the national EEW system by extending the area of coverage of the Core Network into remote coastal areas of BC, where SRD is installing high-speed communications, via subsea fibre-optic cable. This alternative means of communication will also improve the resilience of the EEW system, and SRD’s stations will improve EEW alert times and the EEW system’s reliability for communities along those coastlines. Quote “We are very pleased to partner with the Strathcona Regional District and the Connected Coast Network to bring high-speed internet to our Light Stations and Lifeboat Stations. With many of our Coast Guard personnel working in remote areas all over the BC coast, enhanced connectivity helps us to better serve mariners and remote coastal communities, support safe vessel traffic in Canadian waters, and protect the marine environment.” – Derek Moss, Assistant Commissioner, Western Region, Canadian Coast Guard View all News Posts