August 15, 2019 | Local, Naval
GATINEAU, QC, Aug. 15, 2019 /CNW/ - Through the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the Government of Canada is revitalizing a world-class marine industry in order to provide the women and men of the Royal Canadian Navy with the safe and effective warships they require to protect Canadian sovereignty.
The government is investing more than $7.5 billion in the Royal Canadian Navy's 12 Halifax-class frigates to provide necessary ongoing maintenance until they are retired in the early 2040s.
Today, the Government of Canada awarded a $500-million contract to Irving Shipbuilding Inc., of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to carry out maintenance work on the Halifax-class frigates.
This initial five-year contract guarantees a minimum of three frigates for the shipyard, with work planned to begin in the early 2020s. The contract is expected to rise in value as additional work packages are added.
This contract is expected to result in up to 400 jobs at the shipyard, plus hundreds of related jobs for marine sector suppliers and subcontractors across the country.
On July 16, 2016, the Government of Canada awarded similar contracts to Seaspan's Victoria Shipyards Limited in Victoria, British Columbia, and Chantier Davie in Lévis, Quebec.
The Canadian Surface Combatants will replace the Halifax-class frigates and the retired Iroquois-class destroyers. With them, the Royal Canadian Navy will have modern and capable ships to monitor and defend Canada's waters, to continue to contribute to international naval operations for decades to come and to rapidly deploy credible naval forces worldwide, on short notice. Construction on the Canadian Surface Combatants is scheduled to begin at Irving in the early 2020s.
Quotes
"The National Shipbuilding Strategy continues to support the women and men of the Royal Canadian Navy by providing them with safe, reliable ships to carry out their important work on behalf of Canada. This contract is another example of how the Strategy is helping to maintain our existing fleet, while supporting economic opportunities for the Canadian marine sector across the country."
The Honourable Carla Qualtrough
Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility
"This announcement is essential for supporting the modernization of the Royal Canadian Navy. With our government's continued investment, our navy will continue to contribute to maritime security and stability around the world. This is a testament to how our defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, continues Canada's re‑engagement in the world. I am proud of our sailors and the great work they do."
The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan
Minister of National Defence
Quick facts
August 31, 2023 | Local, Land
$500 million project to provide Canadian Army with reconnaissance vehicle now years behind schedule and plagued with multiple deficiencies
October 20, 2022 | Local, Land
October 20, 2022 – Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces Today, the Minister of National Defence, Anita Anand, announced that Logistik Unicorp based in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, has been awarded a contract to provide operational clothing and footwear to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). This contract, valued at up to $3.7 billion over 20 years, will support over 3000 jobs in Canada's clothing, footwear and textile industries. This investment will deliver approximately 1,222 different items of clothing and footwear worn by CAF members during their deployments, including: · combat uniforms using Canadian Disruptive Pattern (CADPAT) camouflage, badges and insignias, footwear including combat boots, arid/hot weather boots, and mukluks, · winter gear such as parkas, headwear and hand wear, soldiers' personal equipment, such as sleeping bags and day packs. This contract will deliver supplies for more than 160,000 people, including Regular and Reserve Force members, Canadian Rangers, Junior Rangers, search and rescue technicians, firefighters and Cadets. This contract also contains provisions to enable the ad hoc procurement of equipment required for unexpected deployment operations – such as the immediate supply of Personal Protective Equipment during critical emergencies. Today's Operational Clothing and Footwear Consolidated Contract (OCFC2) represents a new approach to supplying the operational gear that the CAF needs to succeed on domestic and international operations. Once the contract is fully implemented, members will be able to order items online and have orders shipped to their door, while also providing the CAF with the ability to continue distributing uniforms directly to units. This new approach will deliver better resource and inventory management for the CAF, improve item availability, and provide better value for taxpayers. This project will deliver concrete economic benefits to Quebecers and all Canadians. Logistik Unicorp will invest in research and development and skills training in the textile, apparel and footwear sectors, which will generate additional jobs and export opportunities. Logistik Unicorp must also conform to mandatory Canadian content requirements by ensuring that the majority of manufacturing of clothing and footwear items is done in Canada. The Government of Canada is committed to providing the CAF with the equipment and tools that they need to serve Canada domestically and internationally. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2022/10/minister-anand-announces-investment-of-up-to-37-billion-to-supply-operational-clothing-and-footwear-to-the-canadian-armed-forces0.html
September 29, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence
Lee Berthiaume OTTAWA — While the federal government is pressing ahead with plans to buy billions of dollars worth of much-needed equipment for the Canadian Armed Forces, the Department of National Defence's top procurement official says COVID-19 is further slowing down some already delayed purchases. The past six months have seen a number of major milestones for Canada's beleaguered military procurement system, including last week's unveiling of the first of 16 new military search-and-rescue planes after 16 years of delays and controversy. Procurement officials are also now reviewing three bids that were received from fighter-jet makers at the end of July as Canada inches closer to selecting a replacement for the aging CF-18s following more than a decade of political mismanagement. The list of recent successes also includes Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding having delivered the first of six new Arctic offshore patrol vessels in late July, while progress has been made on a number of other files, such as the long-overdue purchase of new engineering vehicles for the Army. Yet some of those milestones would have been achieved earlier had it not been for COVID-19. And Troy Crosby, the Defence Department's assistant deputy minister of materiel, acknowledges many other projects are being affected as well. That includes the more than 100 military procurements — roughly half of them dealing with new equipment and the rest focused on building new infrastructure on Canadian Forces bases across the country — that were listed as already delayed before the pandemic hit. "COVID didn't speed anything up," Crosby said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "I think everybody would understand that that's going to have some impact. And exactly what that impact is difficult to tell right now." Delays in military procurements can have several impacts. In some cases such the CF-18s, the Canadian Armed Forces is being forced to keep using equipment that was supposed to have been retired years ago. In others, delays drive up the cost of the new purchases due to inflation. The projects most likely to be delayed due to COVID-19 are those in production, Crosby said. Examples include the construction of new naval ships by Irving and Seaspan ULC in Vancouver, which have had to adopt physical distancing and other COVID-19 measures at their shipyards. "For the projects that are at a stage where the work is office-based ... once we got over that initial hump as everybody had to as we moved toward a remote-work posture, the work continued," said Crosby. "If you're in a shipyard and you're trying to advance the production of a ship given all of the physical distancing requirements and the health and safety considerations, that's challenging." Crosby has previously argued much of the frustration around military procurement is the result of unrealistic expectations born of a lack of understanding and appreciation for how the system — which is dealing with more projects than at any time in recent history — actually works. COVID-19 has also prompted speculation the Liberal government could start cutting back on its promise, unveiled in 2017, to spend $553 billion on the military over the next 20 years. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told The Canadian Press earlier this month that the funding is "secure." Asked about the spending plan — which is contained in the Liberals' defence policy and known as Strong, Secure, Engaged — Crosby said: "Strong Secure Engaged continues to be our focus and it laid out a program of work and we're trying to get that program of work delivered. "It's been that way right through this whole COVID situation. That hasn't changed anything. ... The people in the materiel group, the people we're working with across government, we're all seized with the program forward." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2020. https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/news/covid-19-further-delaying-some-overdue-military-procurements-1.24211049