Service in Canada – 1867-present

Veteran Affairs Canada, Submitted

For more than 100 years, millions of Canadians have proudly served our country in uniform. While the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are known to put their lives on the line to support international operations, they also fulfill important roles on home soil.

They provide national and regional security, serve on search and rescue missions and respond to natural disasters.

Operation Persistence – September 1998

When disaster strikes, Canada’s military is at the ready. In September 1998, the Canadian Armed Forces responded to the Swissair Flight 111 tragedy – right here at home.

Helping after disasters

The Canadian Armed Forces perform many duties here in Canada. They launch search-and-rescue operations when ships are in distress or planes go down in remote areas. But sometimes they play a different role after a major accident. Tragically, this was the case with Swissair Flight 111.

A deadly plane crash

On the evening of 2 September 1998, Swissair Flight 111 took off from New York City. About an hour into its flight to Geneva, Switzerland, the crew detected smoke in the cockpit. The MD-11 passenger jet diverted to the Halifax International Airport. Despite the pilots’ best efforts, the fire spread and they lost control of the plane. At 10:31 PM, the plane plummeted into St. Margaret’s Bay, about eight kilometres off the Nova Scotia coast, near the famous fishing village of Peggy’s Cove.

The initial response

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax immediately launched a search-and-rescue operation. Local fishermen and other boaters, many of whom were volunteers with the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, were first on the scene. They set out to look for possible survivors in the dark of night. HMCS Ville de Quebec was at sea nearby and also sailed to the site. Other Canadian Navy and Coast Guard ships were dispatched from Halifax, only an hour away by water. Military helicopters and airplanes were soon flying overhead as well.

No survivors

The aircraft was completely destroyed and tragically all 215 passengers and 14 crew members on board had immediately perished. By the following afternoon it was clear that the rescue mission was instead going to be a recovery mission. Rescue aircraft were withdrawn. Recovery vessels and divers moved in to look for human remains and debris. The investigation of what had caused the accident began.

Operation Persistence

The response to the of Swissair Flight 111 tragedy was named Operation Persistence. The Canadian Armed Forces, Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Mounted Police played key roles. Various groups like the United States Navy and the Red Cross were also involved. It was one of the largest domestic military operations in our country’s history. More than 2,400 Canadian Armed Forces members, 450 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers (whose contributions came as part of Operation Homage) and hundreds of Canadian Coast Guard personnel took part.

Canadian Armed Forces contributions

Approximately 1,300 Canadian navy, 700 army and 400 air force personnel served in Operation Persistence. HMCS Preserver became the command ship for the recovery efforts at sea. Military helicopters and patrol planes searched for human remains and wreckage floating in the water. Divers, remote underwater vehicles and the submarine HMCS Okanagan searched the ocean floor. It was a challenging task, as the wreckage was approximately 55 metres below the waves. Soldiers walked the coast for weeks, looking for remains and collecting debris that washed up on shore. They also helped handle and transport the recovered material.

Our military personnel would not be the only Canadians in uniform to play a major role in the aftermath of the Swissair disaster. For instance, Royal Canadian Mounted Police members (serving under the mission name Operation Homage) also made key contributions in the recovery, identification and investigation process.

A temporary morgue was established after the accident at nearby Canadian Forces Base Shearwater to receive the human remains. Large facilities in Sheet Harbour and Halifax became sites for sorting debris and reassembling the front portion of the jetliner. It was all in the effort to try to understand what had gone wrong with Swissair Flight 111.

Looking for the cause

A key focus of the recovery efforts was finding the flight data recorder (“black box”) and cockpit voice recorder. These were important to determine the cause of the accident. After days of underwater searching by sonar, HMCS Okanagan located the flight data recorder on 6 September 1998. The cockpit voice recorder was subsequently recovered on 11 September 1998.

The final phase of the wreckage recovery operations ended in December 1999, with 98% of material from the plane found. This included more than 126,000 kg of the aircraft itself, as well as over 18,000 kg of cargo. By the time the investigation closed, the authorities identified remains from everyone aboard the jet. This was not an easy task. The work was exceptionally hard and stressful for the Canadian Armed Forces and other personnel involved.

Lessons learned

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada made important recommendations after their investigation. Aviation authorities around the world put many of them into effect. Changes regarding aircraft wiring, insulation and fire retardant materials have enhanced the safety of air travel.

Remembrance

The Swissair Flight 111 tragedy was the second-deadliest air accident to ever occur in Canada. Today, special memorials to the disaster stand at Whalesback, NS near Peggy’s Cove, and Bayswater. They overlook the waters of St. Margaret’s Bay where the passenger jet went down in September 1998, affecting so many lives.

The price of service

Many of the Canadian Armed Forces members who took part in Operation Persistence were young reservists. The Swissair Flight 111 recovery efforts were physically and emotionally exhausting for most involved. Difficult memories followed many people for years afterward. Some service members suffered from post-traumatic stress disorders. The risks of Canadian military service are not only found during deployments in war-torn countries around the world. Operations here at home can also take a high toll.

1998 Ice Storm – January – February 1998

From 4-10 January 1998, a major ice storm struck parts of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. It was a series of smaller storms that caused a prolonged period of ice pellets and freezing rain in the region. Portions of the St. Lawrence Valley and Quebec’s Eastern Townships received up to 100 mm of ice pellets and freezing rain in a single week, more than double their yearly average.

A trail of devastation

The powerful storm and cold temperatures that followed caused widespread devastation. Countless trees were toppled, power lines snapped and buildings damaged. The storm turned roads into impassable rivers of ice, where downed power lines were covered in ice. Life in large cities like Montreal and Ottawa was largely shut down, with millions left without electricity as power grids were destroyed. The Ice Storm of 1998 injured almost 1,000 people and temporarily displaced more than 600,000. Roughly 35 Canadian deaths were attributed to the storm.

Requests for help

On 7 January 1998, in the midst of the ice storm, the impacted provinces requested aid from the federal government. Responding to the requests from Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, the CAF launched Operation Recuperation the next day. The military helped municipal and provincial authorities in a wide array of recovery efforts. Working with local utility companies, they helped restore damaged electrical towers, and freed power lines that were trapped in centimetres of ice. They also helped their fellow Canadians in other ways, like clearing roads, downed trees and the debris around people’s homes. Canada’s military also provided shelter, food and medical care during the ice storm.

A massive mission

Operation Recuperation remains the largest domestic troop deployment in Canadian history, and the largest operational deployment since the Korean War. In total, more than 15,000 military personnel deployed to assist in recovery efforts. They were drawn from roughly 200 different units, from across the country and the three branches of the CAF.

Their remarkable determination and tireless efforts brought relief to countless people battered by the storm, until the end of the operation on 28 February 1998.

Domestic security and law enforcement

Canada and the Cold War

For decades following the end of the Second World War, CAF members guarded against potential attack by Soviet bombers and submarines that probed our defences during the Cold War. The Cold War dominated the world’s international relations from the late 1940s until the early 1990s, when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Domestically, a key organization that evolved during the Cold War, in addition to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,  was the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD). A joint American / Canadian organization, it is responsible for watching the skies over North America for potential threats.

As technology advanced throughout the Cold War, strings of radar stations were built across northern Canada to provide an early warning against potential attacks.

The Canadian Rangers

Indigenous military personnel fill a wide variety of roles, including serving with the Canadian Rangers. This group of army reservists is active predominantly in the North, as well as on remote stretches of our east and west coasts.

The Canadian Rangers use their intimate knowledge of the land to help maintain a national military presence in these difficult-to-reach areas, reinforcing Canadian sovereignty in the north.

Disaster relief and humanitarian response

Floods, fires or storms—disaster can strike at any moment and can vary widely in scope and scale. When provinces and territories are overwhelmed in these situations, they can ask the Canadian Armed Forces for help. CAF members can mobilize quickly and provide relief to Canadians in dangerous situations, such as rising floodwaters or raging wildfires.

The CAF continues to respond to natural disasters whenever they occur and can provide support to communities in crisis, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. All emergency response and prevention operations fall under CAF’s Operation LENTUS.

Floods

The Canadian Armed Forces have responded to floods across the Canada, with some of the largest taking place in Quebec in the Saguenay region, and in Manitoba, along the Red River. Often during floods, Canadians need to be airlifted to safety, away from the incoming water. During the Saguenay floods in 1996, CAF members used Griffin helicopters to rescue people from rooftops in La Baie, Québec. In total, roughly 1,200 people were airlifted to safety in Operation Saguenay.

The following year, in 1997, the Red River in Manitoba flooded its banks due to warm temperatures, extremely wet weather and the rapid melting of snow. Alarmed by the rise in floodwaters, Manitoba’s government requested assistance from the CAF. On 21 April 1997, Operation ASSISTANCE, was launched, the largest domestic operation up until that point, with more than 8,500 service members providing assistance to provincial and municipal authorities in the province.

They evacuated residents, built levees and contributed in countless other ways in response to this natural disaster.

Storms

In addition to flood response, CAF members have responded to major winter storms across the country that have damaged local infrastructure and put the safety of local residents at risk. In particular, the 1998 Québec Ice Storm required the deployment of thousands of CAF members, as major power outages were experienced across various provinces.

More than one million households lost power, in the dead of winter, leaving Canadians without lights, central heating, running water, or hot meals. In response, Operation RECUPERATION was launched to clear debris from the storm, rescue stranded Canadians and feed those who were without food or shelter. In total, more than 15,750 regular and reserve unit members from across Canada served.

COVID-19

More recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, CAF personnel deployed to long-term care facilities in provinces at the request of local civil authorities, to help protect Canadians and minimize the impacts of the health crisis.