[1] In 1882, the loss of the steamship SS Asia on an uncharted shoal in Georgian Bay resulted in 150 fatalities and was Canada's worst maritime disaster at the time.

The joint Canada-U.S. DEW Line also necessitated innovative surveying techniques throughout remote northern areas in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in support of ships carrying logistics and construction material.

CHS is one of the only hydrographic offices in the world with the capability to undertake Arctic surveying, frequently operating in waters that are frozen between 10 and 12 months of the year.

CHS demonstrates international leadership in influencing, contributing, developing and adopting: hydrographic standards (S-100); crowd-sourced bathymetry (CSB); satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB); GEneral Bathymetric Charts of the Oceans (GEBCO) and the Seabed2030 project; autonomous hydrographic surface vehicles (AHSV); and the implementation of a Marine Spatial (Hydrospatial) Data Infrastructure (MSDI) as an Hydrospatial Office.

Unlike most nations, CHS is not part of Canada's navy, but is rather a civilian scientific organization under the federal government's Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)[1] Science Sector.