CASARA's 35th Anniversary

This year is a very special year for CASARA with our 35 years of service since incorporation of the national organization. A milestone for our organization and all the people that make up our community across the country. Supported and funded by the Department of National Defence (DND), CASARA has provided air search and rescue assistance for the Royal Canadian Air Force nationally for 35 years! We have so much to celebrate in that statement, from the lives we have helped save, to the innovation we have done in that time frame. So, let’s look at what has happened…

Since 1986 we have formed 13 Member Organizations (MO) across the country, setting up one in each province and territory supporting the full coverage of over 9.985 million km² of Canadian terrain. Since then, we have focused on saving lives and improving search & rescue in Canada.

In the 90’s we “established” operations throughout Canada by improving the north, creating the CASARA Foundation, and even had a memorial plaque given to us by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in Winnipeg, MB, Canada to pay respect to lost lives from pervious CASARA members towards the dedication of Canadian SAR.

Into the 2000’s we pushed further for more information by providing training videos, being more involved with SAREX for co-operational capabilities, and got into different tools for SAR.

The 2010’s is where SmartPilot, virtual training software, social media, and website efforts were worked on to improve our distribution of information on SAR and our organization, capabilities, and technology to aid the organization and its members.

Finally leading us into the early 2020's, where technology of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) has been initiated, a virtual infrastructure was implemented from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the national newsletter was kickstarted to help connect and share topics with each other around the country.

All of these efforts over the years have helped us grow and change over time, to improve the organization to where it stands today!

Today we have over 1500+ members nation-wide from coast to coast and north to south dedicated to assisting Canadian air searches. With the 35 years of our national organization, means we have dedicated members who also been with us for a long time! The time spent by our volunteers with us is something that holds the highest respect to our organization, for the dedication and contribution made by oneself. We thank you ladies and gentlemen for your contributions made to CASARA towards Canada's national search and rescue efforts! Especially the individuals who have made contributions within CASARA MO's for 35+ years!

We hope you are reading this celebratory article today with the same feeling that we have as an organization, which can be expressed as feelings of happiness, excitement, and gratitude to the countless hours of volunteerism that has been poured into this organization by thousands of members over the past 35 years to help do their part in saving lives for our National SAR efforts. We are excited to see what is next in store for us within the next year, 5 years, decade, and beyond!

Thank you everyone,

CASARA