The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and some other elements were spun off from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and officially integrated into Canada's national defence structure.

This transition is intended to incorporate the Coast Guard's maritime experience into Canada's overall defence planning, as the Canadian government announced in a statement. The integration is intended to improve information sharing and coordination between the CCG, the Canadian Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), as a result of which the CCG's tasks and focus have been partially adjusted.

There are currently no plans to arm the CCG's personnel or resources or to transfer additional enforcement responsibilities to the organisation. The CCG will continue to provide essential services, including search and rescue (SAR), safe navigation, including maintaining ice-free routes, environmental protection and marine research, according to the Canadian Minister of Defence.

However, Canada will now count its existing expenditure on the Coast Guard towards its NATO defence spending, similar to the US Coast Guard. This is because Canada has consistently missed the NATO target, which was set at two per cent of GDP in 2014 and is set to rise to five per cent by 2035. According to Statista, GDP was only 0.99 % in 2014 and only 1.31 % in 2024. So at the moment, this looks more like a calculation correction.

kdk, The Maritime Executive