Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Canadian Coast Guard Atlantic Region

 Selection Process Number: 24-DFO-ACCG-EA-CCG-617328

Job Title: Twinehand/Fishing Vessel Deckhand - Marine
Classification: SC-DED-03
Locations: Shippagan (New Brunswick), St. John's (Newfoundland and Labrador), Dartmouth (Nova Scotia)
Rate of pay:
SC-DED-03: $67,721 per year
Who can apply: Persons residing in Canada and Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents residing abroad
Closing Date: March 1, 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 Marine Emergency Duties certificate in STCW Basic Safety and also a valid Marine Emergency Duties certificate in Proficiency in Survival Craft & Rescue Boats other than Fast Rescue Boats.
• You have fishing experience as a Twinehand/Leading Deckhand on a Coast Guard Fishery Vessel during operational periods, OR you have experience as a deckhand on a commercial Stern Trawler fishing vessel
• You’re dependable, honest, and can be counted on
• You've got great interpersonal skills and love working with a team
• You're able to lift up to 30lbs and work while standing or walking for prolonged periods
• You have an interest in working at sea
  

What you’ll be doing as key activities:

• Maintaining deck equipment and machinery, shipboard cleanliness and husbandry, performing seamanship duties, carpentry work, and simple repairs to engines.
• Assisting in various fishing operations such as using scientific sampling gear, trawling, gillnetting, long lining and trapping, operating winches, setting and hauling nets, mending and repairing nets, and maintenance of fishing gear.
• Standing a watch at sea and in port, on the bridge steering as a lookout, or at the forecastle as a bow lookout.
• Assisting in the lifting, placing and the maintenance of floating and fixed aids to navigation, such as cleaning, painting, general site upkeep and repairs, carpentry, concrete, and other construction work.
• Assisting in Search and Rescue, Environmental Response, Ice breaking, Scientific, Hydrographic, and Fisheries operations.
• Assisting in the launching, recovery, and manning of small boats in support of the ship's assigned tasks.
• Assisting in loading, stowing, securing, and discharging of cargo and supplies, and in delivering equipment and stores ashore.
• Participating in shipboard safety drills fire, ship abandonment, damage control, recovery of persons overboard, and assisting in the testing of safety equipment and systems.

Working with us:

The intent of this selection process is to create an inventory of qualified candidates to be used to staff casual, term and indeterminate 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 Public Service Alliance Canada  
•       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:  Group Health Benefits (canadalife.com)
• 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

Various language requirements
English Essential
Bilingual Imperative (--B/--B)

Information on language requirements

📌 Certification

• Valid Marine Emergency Duties certificates STCW Basic Safety + Proficiency in Survival Craft & Rescue Boats other than Fast Rescue Boats 

AND

• Fishing experience as a Twinehand/Leading Deckhand on a Coast Guard Fishery Vessel during operational periods,

OR experience as a deckhand on a commercial Stern Trawler fishing vessel.

📌 Competencies

• Working Effectively with Others
• Dependability
• Communication Skills

📌 Asset Qualifications 

• Valid Transport Canada STCW endorsed Bridgewatch Rating Certificate.
• Valid Transport Canada STCW Watchkeeping Mate certificate or higher.
• Valid Transport Canada Fishing Master Class 4th certificate or higher.
• Successful completion of training in one or more of the following areas:
  • Rescue Specialist
  • Twiners Course
• Experience in repairing and maintaining Stern Trawler Fishing Gear and Equipment.

⚓ Conditions of Employment

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

👉 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