Operation TOUCAN

October 1999–April 2001

Operation TOUCAN was the Canadian contribution to the International Force in East Timor (INTERFET) and the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). It began in October 1999 with the deployment for six months of 600 Canadian Forces personnel, including construction engineers from Esquimalt, B.C. and Moncton, N.B., the 250 sailors of the replenishment ship HMCS Protecteur, with a CH-124 Sea King helicopter detachment that completed 157 sorties, a 250-strong Company Group drawn mostly from the 3rd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment, and a tactical airlift detachment of 100 Air Force personnel and two CC-130 Hercules aircraft from 8 Wing Trenton. During the initial phase of the operation, when a safe and secure environment was established and the infrastructure for UNTAET was put into place, the Canadian contingent provided security, construction engineering services, airlift and sealift. During the follow-on phase, Canada contributed staff officers who worked at UNTAET Headquarters in Dili, East Timor.