The Directorate of Meteorology and Oceanography of the Department of National Defence (Canada, DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) ensures full and timely meteorological and oceanographic (MetOc) information access for DND/CAF organizations to assist in the planning and conduct of operation.
The Directorate has two centres located at the Canadian Forces Bases in Halifax (NS, East Coast) and Esquimalt (BC, West Coast). The Halifax MetOc Centre has been conducting operations since 1969 if not before.
The Halifax base was originally built as a British Royal Navy Dockyard. It was transferred to the Canadian Department of Marine and Fisheries in 1906, more specifically to its Naval Service, which branched out and became the Department of Naval Services in 1911 when the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was created and to which it was assigned. The Department of Naval Services evolved as the Department of National Defence in 1922. The RCN was merged with the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Army to form the unified Canadian Armed Forces in 1968, after which it was known as "Maritime Command" until 2011 when the title of RCN was restored.
This centre is distinct from the "Defence Research and Development Canada - Atlantic", located in a facility in Dartmouth (NS) and previously known as the "Defence Research Establishment Atlantic" and founded in 1944 (EDMO ID 4159).
