Two shipyards in Halifax and Vancouver will build up to 30 ships for Canada's navy and coast guard, including frigates, supply ships, patrol boats and an icebreaker, Ottawa announced Wednesday.
The $33-billion shipbuilding procurement is the largest in Canadian history, and is expected to create 15,000 jobs. The ships will also cover the needs of the Royal Canadian Navy and Coast Guard for the next 30 years, officials said.
"This is about rebuilding our navy, our coast guard," Defence Minister Peter MacKay said prior to the announcement. As well, the procurement will provide "a huge injection into the economy," he said.
Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax will build combat vessels at a cost of $25 billion and Seaspan Marine in Vancouver will build the non-combat vessels worth $8 billion, said Deputy Public Works Minister Francois Guimont.
The Halifax and Vancouver shipyards, however, must still finalize their agreements with the government and negotiate specific contract terms in 2012 for the first projects in each package of work.
Repairing and refitting the six to eight new Arctic patrol ships, 15 combat frigates, four scientific vessels, one icebreaker and one or two support vessels over 30 years will add another $500 million per year to the total costs, Guimont said.
As well, an extra $2 billion has been budgeted for the construction of 116 "small ships" for both the coast guard and navy, he said. Those contracts are still up for grabs.
Opposition New Democratic Party MP Peter Stoffer told a press conference the government's shipbuilding announcement is "a good start for the shipyards and shipyard workers in Canada."
The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters association went a step further to say that it will be a boon for the Canadian economy, noting that hundreds of suppliers from across the country will have a chance to bid for various subcontracts.
