Meet the Team
The SARVAC Canine Team is a new division of the Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada, established in 2025. Search and rescue canines play a vital role in ground search and rescue operations, helping teams locate missing persons, identify important clues, and support response efforts across a wide range of environments.
The program was developed to promote consistent, high-quality practices for the training, evaluation, and deployment of search and rescue canine teams across Canada. It establishes national standards and evaluation processes used to determine whether a canine team is ready to operate in real-world search and rescue situations under SARVAC.
Dog Profiles
SARVAC K9 teams are trained and evaluated across a range of search and rescue environments. Each profile represents a different type of search scenario that canine teams may encounter in real-world operations.
Grateful as We Kick-Start Emergency Preparedness Week 2026
With Emergency Preparedness Week 2026 in full swing, it is an important reminder for Canadians everywhere to be prepared and understand the risks facing our communities. Emergencies are becoming more frequent, more severe, and more costly—and preparedness has never…
SARVAC National SAR Canine Program: Moving Toward a National Standard
Volunteer canine teams play a critical role in Canada’s search and rescue system. Until now, however, there has been no unified national standard to guide their training, operational roles, or deployment. That is now changing. SARVAC’s National SAR Canine Program is…



