Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Canadian Coast Guard Atlantic Region

 Selection Process Number: 24-DFO-ACCG-EA-CCG-620529

Job Title: Navigation Officer - Marine
Classification: SO-MAO-03

Locations: St. John's (Newfoundland and Labrador), Dartmouth (Nova Scotia)

Rate of pay:
SO-MAO-03: $41.01 - $45.96 per hour.

Who can apply: Persons residing in Canada and Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents residing abroad.

Closing Date: April 8, 2026

🐟 Your Canadian Coast Guard Adventure Awaits!

Embark on an extraordinary maritime adventure with the Canadian Coast Guard!  Join our elite team and embrace a career of courage, resilience, and purpose.  As a guardian of Canada's vast coastal waters, you'll experience the thrill of saving lives, protecting our marine ecosystems, and ensuring maritime safety.  Unleash your skills and be part of a tight-knit community that fosters personal growth and professional development.  Answer the call, and let the Canadian Coast Guard be your gateway to an exhilarating career on the high seas!

Get to know us:

Want a career where you help save lives?

The Canadian Coast Guard offers a sea of careers that few can emulate.  We are an organization that offers its employees the chance to save lives, protect Canada’s pristine environment, and travel to areas so remote that your only neighbor is wildlife.  In short, we are anything but ordinary! 

As an organization, we oversee ships of all types; cutting-edge helicopters; and employ about 4,500 people, who work tirelessly to protect and secure 243,000 kilometers of Canada’s vast and rugged coastline.
The Canadian Coast Guard has been recognized as one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People in 2023!  Apply now so you don’t miss the boat!

Who you are:

• You possess a valid Transport Canada STCW Watchkeeping Mate, Near Coastal certificate or higher
• You’re dependable, honest, and can be counted on
• You've got great interpersonal skills and love working with a team
• You enjoy working with a commitment to safety, security and service

What you’ll be doing as key activities:

• Standing watches and securing navigation of the vessel and the safety of the crew.
• Supervising personnel during operations, ensuring communication with various parties and the bridge, and directing the handling of mooring lines.
• Reporting problems with electronic navigational instruments to technical experts.
• Recording in the log book all information relevant to navigation and writing various program related reports.
• Participating in marine aids positioning, inspection, maintenance and replacement operations, ensuring the availability and the updating of buoy data files, writing buoy maintenance reports, and updating the various electronic instruments used for navigation.
• Maintaining radio communication and providing information related to sound and visual signals to be exchanged, distances to be kept, work procedures, and all other relevant information.
• Taking charge of a barge or a boat during operations of Coast Guard and Fisheries and Oceans Canada programs.
• Leading and/or participating in damage control, firefighting, environmental response, and other drills, exercises and operations.
• Inspecting and caring for shipboard safety equipment.
• Providing all support necessary to ensure the Canadian Coast Guard meets its mandate.

Working with us:

The intent of this selection process is to create an inventory of qualified candidates to be used to staff indeterminate, term, or acting opportunities within the Canadian Coast Guard. 

Our offer to you:

Benefits of working at the Canadian Coast Guard include:

• Company paid training - great opportunities for advancement
•       Unionized position with the Canadian Merchant Service Guild 
•       Our crew enjoy regular schedules with minimal disruptions - you can plan your time at home
•       We sail safe - your safety is our top priority
•       Public Service Pension: Prospective members of the public service pension plan - Canada.ca
•       Public Service Health Care plan:  Public Service Health Care Plan | Maximum Eligible Expenses (pshcp.ca)
•       Public Service Dental Plan:  Welcome Public Service Dental Care Plan! (canadalife.com)
•       Leave provisions such as vacation leave, sick leave, bereavement, personal and more as outlined in the collective agreement.

Essential Qualifications

English essential

Information on language requirements

📌 Certification

• Valid Transport Canada STCW Watchkeeping Mate Near Coastal or higher.

📌 Competencies

• Working effectively with others
• Dependability

• Communication skills

📌 Asset Qualifications 

• Valid Transport Canada STCW Chief Mate Near Coastal Certificate or higher
• Valid Transport Canada Fishing Master Certificate of Competency
• Valid Marine Advanced First Aid Certificate
• Successful completion of Canadian Coast Guard training in one or more of the following areas:
  • Small Craft Training
  • Rigid Hull Inflatable Operator Training (RHIOT)
  • Rescue Specialist
  • Marine Oil Spill Response and Recovery (MOSRR)
• Experience as a Navigation Officer on a Canadian Coast Guard Large Vessel Fleet
• Experience in science operations on a seagoing vessel
• Experience in buoy/anchor tending 

⚓ Conditions of Employment

• Maintain valid Secret security clearance
• Maintain valid Health Canada Medical for seagoing personnel                
• Maintain valid Certificate of Competency
• Requirement to go to sea for prolonged periods of time (including Arctic Waters) and in adverse weather conditions
• Requirement to wear and maintain a uniform and Personal Protective Equipment to Canadian Coast Guard standards
• Compliance with the Canadian Coast Guard Safety Management System and Standards 
• Adherence to Canadian Coast Guard Respiratory Protection Program
• Willingness to be deployed within Atlantic Region
• Valid Canadian Passport (for identified positions) For Canadian Permanent Residents: valid Permanent Resident card.
• For vessels assigned primarily to Search and Rescue operations, must be within 30 minutes response time to the vessel during assigned work period.
• Must be willing and able to travel by air, land, or by sea
• Required to work overtime when required

👉 Organizational Need

At Fisheries and Oceans Canada, diversity is our strength.  In support of achieving a diverse workforce, selection may be limited to candidates who self-declare as a member of one of more of the following Employment Equity groups.  If you are a woman, an Aboriginal person, a person with a disability or a visible minority, let us know by completing the Employment Equity (EE) section in your application.

Self-declaring. Because you count.

By completing the Employment Equity section in your application, you help create a Public Service that is diverse, inclusive and representative of identities, cultures, perspectives and experiences that make up Canada.

📣 Important Messages

We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process.  If you are a person with a disability (e.g. a learning difficulty or a visual or auditory impairment) and require accommodation during any phase of the evaluation process (including the submission of your application), please notify the person listed in the ‘Contact Information’ section below to request an accommodation measure.  All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Assessment accommodation

Connect with us!

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Canadian Coast Guard                                            

📧 Contact information:

Candice Reath

Candice.Reath@dfo-mpo.gc.ca