Ottawa Announces $11.3 Billion for 6 Icebreakers to Be Built in Quebec

A ship sits in drydock at the Davie shipyard in Levis, Que., on Dec. 14, 2018. The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot

The federal government is committing $11.3 billion to Quebec’s shipbuilding industry to build six new icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the new funding on Aug. 24, calling it the “largest shipbuilding initiative in Quebec’s history.” He said the new ships will replace the coast guard’s “aging heavy and medium icebreakers.”

“The first steel will be cut next fall, the first ship will be delivered five years later, and the full fleet will be in service five years after that,” Carney said during the announcement in Lévis, Que.

The prime minister said the ships would work in Atlantic Canada and the St. Lawrence through the winter, and the Arctic through the summer. They will work to cut open sea lanes and aid vessels in distress or trapped in ice.

The six icebreakers will be built in Canada at the Chantier Davie shipyard in Lévis, through a contract that Carney said will create nearly 5,000 jobs during construction and contribute nearly $650 million to Canada’s GDP. He also said the vessels will be built with Canadian steel and under the government’s Buy Canadian Policy.

In 2024, the Liberal government announced an initial $19.6 million contract to Davie under the National Shipbuilding Strategy to design the six new Polar Class 3 icebreakers.

Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette said it was a “great day for the Davie shipyard and a great day for Lévis.”

“With all the investment being made in defence, we have a unique opportunity that we are seizing to make our know-how shine, to industrialize our economy with good, well-paid jobs, to enrich all of Quebec and its regions,” Fréchette said.

The Prime Minister’s Office said Davie Shipbuilding plays a “critical role in supporting Canada’s fleets, building, repairing, and maintaining ships” for the Canadian Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Navy. It has been given $7.74 billion in contracts since 2012.

Conservative MP and defence critic James Bezan criticized the delay in getting the project started, saying it was initially announced seven years ago and is only being launched now.

“Finally, a Liberal announcement that comes with a contract. Too bad it was signed over seven years after the project was originally announced,” Bezan said, adding that it would be another 12 years before all the icebreakers are delivered.

“It is hard to take the Liberal talking point of ‘building at speeds never seen before’ seriously. The purchase of six new icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard was originally announced in 2019. It was followed by a reannouncement in 2024 and another reannouncement today.”

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