Government of Canada receives Chantier Davie’s supporting materials to become third shipyard under National Shipbuilding Strategy

July 14, 2021

The National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) is about Canadians and Canadian businesses working together to strengthen and renew our naval and Coast Guard fleets, while providing economic opportunities for the Canadian marine sector.

On December 19, 2019, the Government of Canada announced that Chantier Davie had pre-qualified to become the third strategic partner under the NSS. Chantier Davie was the only shipyard to demonstrate that it met initial requirements related to a qualified and experienced workforce, capability and capacity, as defined in the Invitation to Qualify issued on August 2, 2019. The Invitation to Qualify process was overseen by a fairness monitor.

Since that time, the shipyard moved to the Request for Proposal (RFP) and evaluation stage, including a third-party assessment of the shipyard’s infrastructure, the submission of a formal proposal, and the ongoing due diligence process to ensure the shipyard is materially and financially capable of performing the work and making any necessary upgrades to its infrastructure. This assessment is comparable to the competitive process previously undertaken in 2011 to select Irving Shipbuilding Inc. and Seaspan Shipyards as strategic partners under the NSS.

Earlier this week, Public Services and Procurement Canada received Chantier Davie’s RFP submission. Should the complete submission meet the stated requirements, the Government of Canada will begin negotiations with Chantier Davie for an Umbrella Agreement, which is expected to be in place by the end of 2021. We are pleased to be moving forward with the evaluation stage and are committed to working with Chantier Davie through the next phase of the third shipyard selection process.

The Government of Canada has an established relationship with Chantier Davie as a key partner of the marine sector. Chantier Davie has undertaken many important marine contracts over the past several years, such as the acquisition and conversion of 3 medium commercial icebreakers, maintenance work on the first group of Canada’s Halifax-class frigates, and the design and construction of 2 new ferries for Transport Canada. In addition, we have entered into contract negotiations with Chantier Davie for required vessel life extension of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent. Most recently, we announced that the shipyard would build one of the new polar icebreakers as well as 6 new program icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard, pending successful completion of the ongoing third shipyard selection process.  

We will continue to work with the Canadian marine industry to provide members of the Canadian Coast Guard and of the Royal Canadian Navy with the ships they need to do their important work on Canadian and foreign waters.