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Canadian Surface Combatant Request for Proposals Closes

November 30, 2017, Ottawa – The Government of Canada and Irving Shipbuilding Inc. today announced the closing of the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the design of the Canadian Surface Combatant fleet.

Under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the Canadian Surface Combatant is the largest, most complex procurement undertaken by the Government of Canada. The ships being built will form the backbone of the Royal Canadian Navy.

The RFP for the design of the Canadian Surface Combatant was issued in October 2016 to 12 pre-qualified companies. Bidders had until today to submit their bids to Irving Shipbuilding Inc. in Halifax, Nova Scotia for joint evaluation by the Government of Canada and Irving Shipbuilding Inc.

The evaluation plan has been designed to identify the best valued bid, while ensuring fairness, openness and transparency.

Canada and Irving Shipbuilding Inc. conducted extensive industry engagements to inform the development of the strategy and the Request for Proposal. A Fairness Monitor has been in place since industry consultations began in 2012 and will oversee all stages of the evaluation process.

On November 27, 2017, officials from the Government of Canada and Irving Shipbuilding Inc. held a technical briefing to provide details on the bid evaluation process. Speaking notes used by Government of Canada officials can be found on the National Shipbuilding Strategy website.

We will be evaluating bids in the next several months as part of this competitive process. Once we receive the financial component of the bids, we will confirm how many bids have been received. Following this, we expect that we will announce the selection of a preferred bidder in the spring of 2018. Once a preferred bidder is selected, a due diligence process will follow. Contract awards will follow later in 2018. The start of ship construction remains scheduled for the early 2020s.

The Government is committed to ensuring an open, fair and transparent procurement process that will provide the Royal Canadian Navy with the vessels it needs to do its work protecting Canadians.

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