Stanley Park visitors warned to expect Navy training exercise this weekend

The entrance to HMCS Discovery in Stanley Park is seen on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014. (CTV News)

Canada’s Department of National Defence is warning visitors to Stanley Park not to be alarmed if they see soldiers carrying rifles and hear gunshots near Deadman Island this weekend.

The Royal Canadian Navy will be conducting security operations training at HMCS Discovery – as the island is also known – on Saturday and Sunday.

Dubbed “Exercise STEADFAST DEFENDER,” the training will not involve any live ammunition, the department said in a statement Wednesday.

“The public may notice (Canadian Armed Forces) members with unloaded service rifles at the entrance gates of HMCS Discovery on Deadman Island,” the statement reads.

“Sounds from the firing of blank ammunition may also be heard throughout the duration of the exercise.”

The exercise “is aimed at developing and maintaining the unit’s security operations capabilities,” the department said, adding that it will involve boat operations in the vicinity of Stanley Park and “diving operations, including wreckage diving,” in the area of Indian Arm, several kilometres away.

HMCS Discovery is the sole Naval Reserve Division in the Lower Mainland. It trains sailors and officers “who can be employed at sea and ashore in a wide range of missions,” according to the Department of National Defence.