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Today, Irving Shipbuilding and the Royal Canadian Navy, along with Government and industry partners, celebrated the completion of the refit portion of the Halifax-Class Modernization project. A full fleet of Canada’s great Combatant vessels are once again in superb material condition and ready to assist Canada’s brave men and women in uniform.

Irving Shipbuilding and the Halifax Shipyard have a proud history building and maintaining ships for Canada, a history that dates back to maintenance work for the Royal Canadian Navy’s first east coast ship, HMCS Niobe.

The Halifax-class, which is celebrated today, is a true representation of Irving Shipbuilding’s legacy in shipbuilding and maintenance. From 1983 to 1997 at our former Saint John Shipyard, Irving Shipbuilding successfully built nine warships under the Canadian Frigate Program. Since then, we have maintained and modernized the Halifax-class, with many of the same workers who built the vessels. All seven ships modernized at the Halifax Shipyard – Halifax, Fredericton, Montreal, Charlottetown, St. John’s, Ville de Quebec and Toronto — were done on schedule and under budget.

Not only does our workforce benefit from decades of experience maintaining Ships for Canada, but this work is an important economic pillar for the province of Nova Scotia, and throughout Canada. More than $625 million in spending commitments on the Halifax-class refits has resulted in an estimated $265 million in employment income in Nova Scotia, generated more than $80 million in taxes in the province, and lead to over $196 million in consumer spending. Canada-wide that is $355 million in employment income, $110 million in taxes, and $260 million in consumer spending.

As the Halifax Shipyard’s closest neighbour and partner, our team is proud to provide the Royal Canadian Navy with ships and equipment to keep them safe and bring them home.

The Halifax Shipyard – and the 200 to 300 shipbuilders who work on each frigate – look forward to continuing our long history as a trusted partner to Canada’s Navy and stand ready to continue maintaining and servicing the Halifax-class frigates.

Fun Facts:

• The amount of paint used in the Halifax-Class Modernization project at the Halifax Shipyard could paint Buckingham Palace 8.5 times.
• The total metres of cable stripped and pulled during the Halifax-Class Modernization project at the Halifax Shipyard could wrap around the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill 350 times.
• The 4,089,559 hours of work over the seven years of the Halifax-Class Modernization project at the Halifax Shipyard equates to 1,966 employees per year working 2,080 hours.