marine engineer

mécanicien

traffic officer

responsable communication

nurse

Canadian Coast Guard

I was hired directly from Sea Island Coast Guard Station - They have a unique base as it is the only one with Rescue Divers. The station is primarily a SAR station. The experinece working there was fantastic overall. Excellent training, diverse work expeience and you wear a lot of hats - Rescue Specilist (Medic, Fire-fighter, RHIT Coxwain) and Rescue Diver on surface supply. We repaired bouys, repositioned them, replaced them, navigational aids, re-painted fixed nav aids, re-water and re-fuel light houses. I reponded to multiple calls with fires where we were the only ones to be there, the difference in the Coast Guard is you do it all, medic, firefighter, rescue with no back up except your crew, you have to problem solve on the spot. You will be running cranes, forklifts, and cutting the grass. You will be reponsible for cleaning the station and the hovercraft that we operate out of. But going for a sunset dive and getting out of the water with someone cooking dinner on a outdoor bbq and handing out a gouremet hamburger is like nothing else. Or going on patrol and stopping at White Rock or Cresent beach for ice cream. There are perks to the job. It's high adrenaline, action packed and that base did an average of 300 + calls per year. We would have cfew dinners and waffle breakfasts, it was a very cohesive work site like none other I have worked in. You will operate fast inflatable rescue boats as part of your duties. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The health benefits, pension package and flexible ours of work depending on the department you for

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Zero recognition for hard work if you are an admin. No one is ever available to train you and Management just wants you to get the work done at all costs to you. There is allot of favoritism. If you work hard and do your job well you get more work while those who do little to nothing get the same pay. Huge work load. Watching Management use staff to do all their work and they reap the benefits of bonuses equivalent to the pay of Admin.
 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic work environment and full of favoritism. People always hire their friends or family not the best qualified people for the jobs. They hold several competitions to appease the guidelines but already have people in mind to fill the positions. The harder you work the more work you get and your Manager will get a large $ bonus for it. You get zero appreciation and more work.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You get a huge workload, limited direction and limited time to do it in. Frustrating seeing management spending their days sending jokes, taking long breaks and socializing and delegating their work down.

Being on a vessel is normally 30 days on and 30 days off.  12 hr shifts is very common. The crew is very protective of there knowledge as most people don't want anyone to succussed past them or equal to them. as job security is very poor and everyone is competing for the same full time job that will most likely never come.

On most ships you have to share a small room with two or more bunk beds in it. so privacy is impossible.  

Ships officers do not want to be bothered with anything that does improve there life style. If you are having any difficulty with anything you will not find any help on board and ship. You will get a standard three answers. 1. it is the Manuel. 2.That is ship life. 3.look it up on the computer. 

In a nut shell the crew on the ship know you are not stay on that ship so they don't want to invest any of there time teaching you anything or find answers to you questions.

There no WIFI onboard any ship so you may go days with out any off ship communication with your loved ones.

Any travel to or from the ship is not covered and you must spend your own earnings to travel to and from the ship. no air fair will be provided.

Most of the crew with the exception of all the officers are all term employees from the job pool so you don't have any job security at all. they call you when they need to fill a spot.



Management can be disorganized, as people are often switching roles and moving around in the organization. Suggestions for improvement were almost always ignored by upper-management. Some of the younger supervisors have had little to no leadership training, which has resulted in excessive micro-management and negative feedback. That being said, I have gotten lucky with a few supervisors that would listen to my suggestions, give me additional responsibility when I asked, and provide helpful constructive and positive feedback. 

In terms of the actual job, I enjoyed my daily responsibilities. Although SAR calls can be stressful and tiring, I also found them exciting and rewarding. I felt well-trained for my position, and a large emphasis was placed on continuous training. The rest of your crew can really make or break your experience, but most of the people I worked and lived with were great. As long as you have patience and a positive attitude, this job can be very enjoyable. Overall I enjoyed my time with the CCG.

When I was working for the Canadian Coast Guard I was working as a able seaman deckhand quartermaster on board three ships. The typical days work was handling the mooring lines peparture,and arrival to victoria after sea duty. I learned how to steer the ship on course on the ships bridge. I worked well with the ships captain,and his fellow bridge deck officers on watch. I worked well with all of the co-workers deckhands. The hardest part of the job was to respect the heavy seas on the Weather Station Papa,and the most enjoyable part of the job was doing all the exterior deck work,helping the oceanenographers lower their equipment from the ships deck to the ocean floor for ocean water temperatures at differant depths,and do my watch on the bridge as look out,standby,and steering the ship,and keeping in contact with the deck officer on watch to let him know on what other ships that I sighted on the radar screens,and by sight from the flight deck onboard the stearen of the ship

The Canadian Coast Guard ships I have worked on all required hands on mechanical skills, for all the positions I have worked.
Working mainly in engine rooms of ships involves diesel engine rebuilds and a variety of systems maintenance and repair including septic, electrical, compressed air, automation and remotely controlled equipment.  In addition, working on deck machinery included winches and gear boxes which were both hydraulic and electric systems, as well as variable speed drives and constant tension drives.  

Trade barriers do not exist on ships, the field of Marine Engineering includes skills from all trades. Welding fabrication and Machining, plumbing, electrical, refrigeration as well as heating  and ventilation systems with humidity control.

I received training for this trade from the Canadian Coast Guard College.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Pride of working for Canada. Working on remote sites in incredible beautiful locations from Vancouver Island to Manitoba to Hay River. Vast Western  Region .
Working from ships, boats, helicopters. Challenging logistics. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Challenging logistics. Transportation of personnel , materials and provisions to remote sites across the Western Region.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
For the most part, small work teams with great synergie. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
7:30-16:00 Monday to Friday. Plan, purchase materials and provisions arrange transportation and accommodation. Travel to site for usual 2 weeks in the field.

Worked 12 hour shifts in the engine room. I learned how to run and maintain the equipment while having a great time working with and learning from the other engineers. Not much about the job was overly tough as it was a stress free environment, where the people got along and helped each other out but it definatly wasn't easy when we had the search and rescue calls to go retrieve bdies from the water. The best part of the job was that on the typicall day while we waited for search and rescue calls, we would go fishing or occasionally out to some very remote hot springs. I definatly liked working there but it was coastal work without boilers so I decided to leave for deap sea to get a steam ticket and gain valuable experience.

12 hours shifts on rotation. Chiefs are good. The hardes part of the job is being away from home. Enjoy the team atmosphere. maintains engine room machinery, assists watch-keeping engineer in maintaining all auxiliary machinery and equipment and in the handling of supplies. Participates in rescue and firefighting and damage control drills, exercises and operations. Assists engineers and works independently during maintenance and opening up of main and auxiliary machinery or repair. Carries out routine maintenance and repair to Engine Room machinery and equipment including electrical equipment and circuitry under the direction of my Senior Engineer. Stands watch in the machinery spaces during absences of the Watchkeeping Engineer.

A life at sea is not for everyone. Often the working and living conditions can be brutal for days on end due to vicious storms with high winds and mountaious seas. The isolation of shipboard life combined with living in clise contact can often be difficult.  Onw wpuld think that harassment and abuse would be acthing of the padt but can still be encountered at sea. You have to have a thick skin.  There is no such thing as a sickday on a ship at sea, everone works long shifts for up to 4 weeks at avtime, perhaps longer.
Having said that, the rewards can be great with goid oay and excellent trsining opportunities your chances for advancement can be fair.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Marine engineer 2 salaries reported	$50.05 per hour
Mécanicien 2 salaries reported	$50.05 per hour
Traffic officer 1 salary reported	$60,206 per year
Responsable communication 1 salary reported	$60,206 per year
Nurse 1 salary reported	$100,350 per year

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