About the program
Search and Rescue New Initiatives Fund (SAR NIF)

Background

The Search and Rescue New Initiatives Fund (SAR NIF) is a contribution program established by the federal government in 1986. It is managed by Public Safety Canada (PS) in partnership with other federal, provincial and territorial search and rescue (SAR) organizations.

SAR NIF provides funding for projects that will improve Canada's search and rescue system, lined up with current federal, provincial and territorial priorities.

Canada's search and rescue system

The vision of Canada's SAR system:

A Canada where the critical importance of search and rescue is reflected in a multi-jurisdictional approach to promoting individual, collective and organizational behaviors that minimize the risk of injury or loss of life while maintaining timely and effective response services.

Achieving this vision rests on prevention and response objectives:

• Prevention: Teach people and groups how to spot risks and the importance of learning and using the knowledge, skills and tools to stay safe and avoid injury
• Response: Make sure the search and rescue system is ready and able to help wherever it's needed across Canada

Objectives of the program

The purpose of the program is to help Canada's search and rescue teams work faster, smarter, save money, and develop new ways to prevent and respond to emergencies.

To achieve this, SAR NIF funding supports projects that:

• help search and rescue responses be more effective in federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions
• improve the search and rescue community's ability to share response and prevention best practices
• promote safe activities to reduce the need for search and rescue operations

Available funding

The annual SAR NIF budget is $6.5 million. Projects must be completed within 36 months. Funding available for new projects will vary from year to year because of ongoing projects.