Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility

The Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility is a nationally registered not-for-profit corporation. Established to manage and operate the ROPOS system once the Department of Fisheries and Oceans could no longer fund underwater research vehicles, the CSSF successfully transferred the ROPOS operation from government to the private sector.

CSSF works mainly through contracts with small local companies. Fielding a consistently successful team for operations and maintenance of the system, CSSF has earned strong client support. Working relationships have been established with the University of Victoria, University of Washington, the NOAA Vents program and the NOAA West Coast Undersea Research Center, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), GEOMAR (a German research support agency) as well as Natural Resources Canada and several other Canadian universities.

ROPOS was developed with major funding from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Natural Resources Canada, and NSERC. Major upgrades to the system have been funded by CSSF, Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the British Columbia Knowledge Development fund.

Vision and Mission Statements

Our vision is to promote undersea research with world-class Canadian technology.

Our mission is to provide Canadians and others with a state-of-the-art ability to conduct science and engineering in the submarine environment at a realistic cost.