The Canadian Gov’t doesn’t want you to know about Canadian Armed Forces disaster relief operations…
and IDGAF.
The Canadian Gov’t doesn’t want you to know about Canadian Armed Forces disaster relief operations in the wake of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica
and IDGAF.
Events in the world happen whether Government of Canada officials say anything about them or not. I don’t have a “blackout” period. I don’t answer to the PMO or MND. Neither does anyone in the Canadian news media. Canadian officials can speak, or not, but the word will still get out using publicly available information.
Below is a timeline of events and accompanying analysis of the relief effort by Canadian Government using the Canadian Armed Forces in the wake of Hurricane Melissa which ravaged Jamaica 🇯🇲 on October 28. Two weeks after the devastation I found out the operation was called “Op RENAISSANCE 2025 — Jamaica”, they even had time to make deployment patches, or had them left over from the last activation of the Operational Support Hub Latin America and the Caribbean (OSH-LAC)
Tuesday, October 28 (day 0)
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica 🇯🇲 as a Category 5 hurricane, causing widespread devastation, power outages, and flooding.
Thursday, October 30 (+2 days)
Canada announced $7 million in humanitarian assistance funding for countries affected by Hurricane Melissa, including Jamaica 🇯🇲, to be funneled through the UN and Red Cross for essentials like food, water, and shelter.
Sunday, November 2 (+5 days)
CDEMA reported vide days after the hurricane made landfall that the Canadian Armed Forces Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) was preparing to deploy and set to arrive on Tuesday, November 4, and the OSH-LAC would be established in Kingston, Jamaica 🇯🇲.
NB: The CDEMA report on Sunday November 2 established by that by day 5, the Canadian government had a plan, was communicating that plan to partner agencies, and executing on that plan, while not communicating any of that with the Canadian public.
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Wednesday, November 3 (+6 days)
RCAF CC-177 Globemaster III 177705 as call sign CFC3833 (Flight #1) flew 20 members of the Canadian Armed Forces and Global Affairs Canada (GAC)-led Canadian Disaster Assessment Team (CDAT) to Kingston, Jamaica 🇯🇲.
Thursday, November 6 (+9 days)
The Ottawa Citizen published an article by David Pugliese detailing what little we knew by this time, covering the flight that happened on Wednesday November 3.
RCAF CC-177 Globemaster III 177705 as call sign CFC4083 (Flight #2) flew an unknown number of members of the Canadian Armed Forces and cargo to Kingston Jamaica 🇯🇲 to stand up the Operational Support Hub. Pictures of this were posted to Combat Camera’s Flickr account November 10.
Saturday, November 8 (+11 days)
The CDEMA reported that the Operational Support Hub will be operational by November 13.
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On Saturday, November 8 CJOC posted pictures to Twitter and Facebook taken November 6 showing the arrival of personnel; no pictures from November 3 were posted, no details of the operation were provided.
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November 9 (+12 days)
RCAF CC-177 Globemaster III 177705 as call sign CFC4084 (Flight #3) flew an unknown number of members of the Canadian Armed Forces and equipment to Kingston Jamaica 🇯🇲 continuing to stand up the Operational Support Hub.
November 10 (+13 days)
Combat Camera posted pictures to Flickr from November 6–9 and posted the first public mention of the operation name “Op RENAISSANCE 2025 — Jamaica”.
November 11 (+14 days)
Caribbean News Global picked up the story and mentioned the Canadian Armed Forces.
November 13 (+16 days)
Operational Support Hub is expected to be fully operational, per CDEMA report. CJOC speculated that the OSH would be operational Wednesday November 12, but either way, that’s ~two weeks after Hurricane Melissa made landfall. I believe that establishes a baseline for open sources to use the next time such an operation takes place; a two week lead time is needed to establish a base of operations at a prepared site they’ve previously deployed to several times.
November 19, 2025 (+22 days)
Combat Camera adds 29 historical photos to Flickr album (total ~49, later adjusted to 43; taken primarily November 8–15, including a 23-person group shot).
November 21, 2025 (+24 days)
High Commission of Canada in Jamaica (@CanadaJamaica) announces arrival of The Honourable Randeep Sarai, Secretary of State (International Development) for 3-day visit to review Canada’s support post-Hurricane Melissa, joined by MP Greg Fergus.
CDEMA Situation Report #15 notes CARICOM Heads of Government visit to Jamaica for solidarity but no CAF mentions.
November 22, 2025 (+25 days)
RCAF CC-177 Globemaster 177704 arrives in Jamaica and returns to Canada, possibly a logistics return/sustainment flight for OSH-LAC. No official confirmation.
High Commission of Canada in Jamaica (@CanadaJamaica) posts thread with 8 photos from a VIP tour of the OSH-LAC featuring Secretary of State for International Development (Sarai), MP Greg Fergus, High Commissioner Susan Berman, and Jamaican officials (Commander Alvin Gayle, ODPEM DG, Ambassador Marks). Highlights bilateral discussions and Canada’s support for JDF relief/recovery post-Melissa — first diplomatic confirmation of ongoing hub operations.
November 23, 2025 (+26 days)
High Commission of Canada in Jamaica posts update on conclusion of Secretary of State Sarai’s visit, noting private dinner with Jamaican government underscoring shared priorities for recovery and resilience.
November 24, 2025 (+27 days)
CJOC deleted earlier second tweet, reposted, deleted, reposted, deleted, and reposted again the “second” tweet about OSH-LAC activation under Op RENAISSANCE for rapid regional support post-Melissa, including three photos of hub activities. Misrepresents the date one of the pictures talem by Combat Camera by a week.
November 25, 2025 (+28 days)
The Honourable MP David McGuinty, Minister of National Defence posted for the first time about the deployment, and didn’t mention any of the keywords which would allow anyone to find more information.
Loose ends
As of the last edit of this article, there is still no official mention of activating DART, which was mentioned by CDEMA in their daily report on November 2.
- Was the DART deployment cancelled after some amount of time past the date the GAC assessment team arrived on November 3? If so, when was DART called off, because on November 2 the CDEMA published they were expecting DART to arrive (“(DART) preparing to deploy to Jamaica.”)
- Is DART still being deployed as it was reported on November 2, and it takes 2 weeks for the tents to be put up and the infrastructure to arrive, so we’re watching the deployment happen now? Maybe CJOC don’t want to draw Canadians’ attention to a timeline of a DART deployment, and show everything doesn’t happen overnight?
Compare with the 2023 Syria/Turkey Earthquake:
- Sent financial aid
- Sent an assessment team, didn’t send DART after the evaluation of their needs.
- No CC-177 Globemaster flights to Syria/Turkey, compare with 3 so far to Kingston. Could reflect the re-establishment of the OSH and be unrelated to DART deployment directly.
Limited media coverage
I believe that most of the Canadian news media haven’t heard that there is a Canadian Armed Forces operation underway in Jamaica, and because the Canadian Armed Forces haven’t promoted their effort in a detailed or timely fashion, haven’t caught the attention of many. David Pugliese’s article is arguably the most in depth, and can be found in The Ottawa Citizen, Winnipeg Sun, and syndication (ref. below)
(I intend to update this as additional details emerge — Updated Nov 25)
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You can zoom right in with Google Earth and get a street view of the OSH-LAC from a time while it was shut down and only the cement pads and containers are visible.
References:
Kingswood, Captain John. “Canadian Engineers Reinforce Capability in Jamaica.” Canadian Military Engineers Association, February 1, 2019. https://cmea-agmc.ca/canadian-engineers-reinforce-capability-jamaica.
“Canada Provides Humanitarian Assistance to Support Jamaica’s Recovery from Hurricane Melissa.” Caribbean News Global, November 10, 2025. https://caribbeannewsglobal.com/canada-provides-humanitarian-assistance-to-support-jamaicas-recovery-from-hurricane-melissa/.
“Canadian Forces Join Jamaica Hurricane Relief Mission.” Winnipeg Sun, November 6, 2025. https://winnipegsun.com/news/canadian-forces-join-jamaica-hurricane-relief-mission.
Pugliese, David. “Canadian Forces Sent to Jamaica as Hurricane Relief Efforts Ramp Up.” Ottawa Citizen, November 5, 2025. https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/defence-watch/canadian-forces-jamaica-hurricane-relief.
(no mention of CAF effort) Global Affairs Canada. “Canada Announces Humanitarian Assistance in Response to Hurricane Melissa.” Canada.ca, October 30, 2025. https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2025/10/canada-announces-humanitarian-assistance-in-response-to-hurricane-melissa.html.
(no mention of CAF effort) “Hurricane Melissa-Hit Caribbean to Get $7M in Canadian Humanitarian Aid.” Global News (The Canadian Press), October 29, 2025. https://globalnews.ca/news/11503664/hurricane-melissa-caribbean-canada-aid/.
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