Originally published in Lake of the Woods Area News, Volume 55, Number 2, Spring 2025
During the summer of 2024, many residents of the Sioux Narrows area of Lake of the Woods took note of activities and vessels on the water that are not typical to this region of the lake. These vessels were part of a marine training program being conducted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada’s national police force, for members from various RCMP units and detachments in Canada.
While seeing the RCMP is a common site in most of Canada, including provincial and territorial waterways, they are not generally seen on Lake of the Woods, at least not as far north as the Sioux Narrows area. Nationally, the RCMP have a broad mandate on the water that includes search and rescue coordination on waterways, border integrity between ports of entry, national security, pro-active safety and enforcement patrols and the application of the Canada Shipping Act and Criminal Code. In Ontario however, many of these activities are the responsibility of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
RCMP marine activity in Ontario is primarily focused on border integrity, national security, and transnational investigations. These activities are undertaken on Ontario waterways along the Canada / U.S. border including the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River as well as the south end of Lake of the Woods and other Ontario locations.
Their training activities on Lake of the Woods however, is taking advantage of the natural characteristics of the lake, it’s well developed navigational and buoyage system, and other characteristics that make it an excellent body of water for marine learning and experience.
This training program is relatively recent to Lake of the Woods with seven courses having been provided either once or twice a year during the months of June and September with a curriculum that features both classroom and applied practical training on the Lake.
The program is led by the RCMP Manitoba Marine Unit and is based on the National Marine Foundations Course. The training reflects the crucial role that waterways and marine enforcement play in the RCMP mandate throughout the country. This mandate includes coastal and inland water bodies as well as remote policing.
According to the training objectives, officers participating in the course are provided with the skills necessary to safely and professionally operate RCMP and other vessels proficiently on the water including at night and during times of restricted visibility. Coursework is intended to give officers an increased understanding of the hazards associated with the marine environment, how to prevent shipboard incidents, and to improve their knowledge and use of aids for navigation and seamanship.
Lake of the Woods provides participants with excellent practical exposure for the material covered in the classroom and an opportunity for marine officers to apply this learning on the water. As this is a nationally standardized course, the curriculum is designed to accommodate the needs of officers from various Canadian jurisdictions and detachments who have varying levels of marine experience on a broad range of water bodies, both salt and freshwater, and within different landscapes. Coursework recognizes the unique marine environments and waterways in different provinces and territories as well as the diverse challenges that officers may encounter. The aim is to provide marine skills that are transferable no matter where the officers may be posted in the country. To date, most trainees in the course have been from Manitoba; however other participants have included officers from Canada’s east, west and north with trainees from Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
According to RCMP officers conducting the course work, Lake of the Woods provides an ideal environment and practical exposure for officers taking part in training as it is a very well charted lake, with diverse marine configurations and regular boat traffic. The lake provides opportunities for on-the-water experience and applied learning and is an excellent classroom and marine environment to achieve training goals. Sergeant David Portelance is the head of Marine training for the Manitoba RCMP and course leader. He said,
“Having the ability to expose the newly trained officers to such dynamic waterways provides them with a hands-on opportunity regarding the information that is provided in classroom books and presentations. It also gives the candidates on the course the best realistic exposure to operating a vessel in a complex waterway at daytime and nighttime.”
As this course is taught both in the classroom and on the water, there are several RCMP vessels used that are not usually seen on Lake of the Woods. During the summer of 2024, the vessels used in support of the training program included a 27 ft. “Titan” Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) with twin 300 hp outboards being used as a safety and multi-purpose vessel. This boat is generally used for search and rescue, operational and enforcement patrol duties, tactical response, and underwater recovery team support. In addition, there were several purpose-built 19-ft. welded aluminum “Eagle Outlaw” boats with twin 115 hp outboard motors that are used as patrol boats. These can be outfitted with either standard outboards or jets dependent on the waterway characteristics where patrols are being undertaken. On-the-water-training locations in the Sioux Narrows area included Long Bay, Whitefish Bay, and Regina Bay.
Sergeant Portelance also commented on how welcoming the lake residents and community of Sioux Narrows have been in supporting the ongoing training activities for both trainers and trainees. It is anticipated that these training activities will be back in the fall of 2025 and that Lake of the Woods will continue to provide an ideal training ground and “classroom” in support of safety and security on Canada’s lakes and waterways.
