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The Canadian Coast Guard College (CCGC) is a maritime training college and Canadian Coast Guard facility located in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, near Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.
CCGC trains officer cadets for the Canadian Coast Guard in a 4-year program whereby graduates receive a Bachelor of Technology (Nautical Science) granted in collaboration with the University College of Cape Breton and employment as an officer in the coast guard.
Aerial view of the Canadian Coast Guard College's Westmount, Nova Scotia campus, facing west from Sydney Harbour. History
Established in 1965 as a residential college on the site of the former navy base HMCS Point Edward along the western shore of Sydney Harbour, CCGC's first mandate was to train young men in 4-year diplomas of Marine Engineering or Marine Navigation for the coast guard's Officer Cadet Training Program. The officer cadet program expanded in 1974 to include women.
In 1981, CCGC moved from its location on the former Point Edward naval base to an adjacent custom-built 120 acre campus in neighbouring Westmount. The campus is located in a wooded area immediately south of Point Edward and adjacent to Petersfield Provincial Park. It consists of a variety of interlinked residential, training, administration, and health/fitness facilities. CCGC also has extensive simulators for depicting the navigation of vessels in a variety of scenarios, fully-operational dry-land mock-ups of vessel engine rooms, and a simulator for a rescue coordination centre (RCC).
CCGC has a small fleet of training vessels ranging from sail boats and rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) to 40-ton lifeboat cutters - all housed in a custom-built boathouse on the college's waterfront along a small cove. Operational icebreakers, buoy tenders, and search and rescue patrol vessels in the coast guard's Atlantic and Arctic fleets frequently call at Sydney Harbour to conduct cadet training.
In the 1980s-2000s, the college expanded its training programs to include not only the 4-year officer cadet programs for the coast guard, but also customized marine training for students from Commonwealth Caribbean nations, as well as other federal government agencies such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Department of Transport. The 4-year officer cadet program has also been expanded to include training for students from several Middle East nations.
In the 1990s, the 4-year cadet programs were granted degree accreditation through an agreement with the University College of Cape Breton. Following completion of the cadet program, graduates now receive a Bachelor of Technology (Nautical Science) from UCCB.
CCGC also functions as a conference facility and provides a variety of customized short term training programs for members of the marine industry.
Departments
- Marine Communications and Traffic Services
- Nautical Science
- Search and Rescue
- Environmental Response
- Boating Safety
See also
External link
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