[2] The vessel can carry 2,450 m3 (540,000 imp gal) of diesel fuel and has a range of 15,000 nautical miles (28,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) and can stay at sea for up to 120 days.

In the summer, Pierre Radisson is assigned to escort commercial ships, maintain navigation aids and search and rescue missions in the Canadian Arctic.

[9] In 1982, the ship acted as the vice-regal yacht for Governor General Edward Schreyer on his visit to Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Greenland to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the Norse settlement of L'Anse aux Meadows.

Pierre Radisson escorted the damaged ship to Halifax, Nova Scotia and then returned via the Panama Canal, dropping off relief supplies to hurricane victims at Kingston, Jamaica.

[14] On 27 July 2015, CCGS Pierre Radisson located and rescued Sergey Ananov, a Russian helicopter pilot who attempted a round-the world flight.

Ananov's Robinson R22 helicopter crashed and sunk in the Davis Strait, between Baffin Island and Greenland, the previous day, but the pilot managed to swim to a nearby ice floe.

The refit includes re-coating the hull, replacement of windows, reconditioning the flight deck and hangar and maintenance to steel work, propulsion and the interior.

[18] On 24 August 2018, Pierre Radisson was directed to assist Akademik Ioffre, a cruise ship that had run aground in the western Gulf of Boothia.

[19] In January 2019, CCGS Des Groseilliers and Pierre Radisson were both deployed to the Saint Lawrence River after large ice jams closed the shipping lane, trapping merchant vessels in Montreal and Trois-Rivières, Quebec.

[21] Canadian Coast Guard ice breaker Pierre Radisson's workboat/lifeboat No.2 was repurposed as a training boat/work boat (13D17073) that has been operated by the Maritime Affairs Committee Navy League of Canada – Outaouais Branch since November 1998.