Question Period Note: Polar Icebreaker

The Government of Canada is committed to the renewal of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) fleet and is making a significant investment in new vessels that will bring a modern, flexible approach to program delivery. This investment includes the construction of 2 new Polar Icebreakers to ensure continued delivery of the CCG’s Arctic program.

• Through the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), we are providing the women and men of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the CCG with the equipment they need to protect and serve Canadians
  • On February 28, 2020, the Government of Canada issued a Request for Information, open to all Canadian shipyards, seeking information on domestic shipyard capability and capacity to construct and deliver a Polar-class Icebreaker
  • It closed on March 13, 2020 and Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) received 4 responses
  • On May 6, 2021, we announced that we will move forward with the construction of 2 Polar Icebreakers
  • Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards will engineer and construct 1 vessel while the other will be engineered and constructed at Chantier Davie, pending the successful completion of the ongoing selection process to select it as the third strategic partner for large ships construction under the NSS

If pressed on budget and delivery of the Polar icebreakers:

• As the Government of Canada progresses through the various contracting and design phases, a project budget that includes all costs associated will be determined and publicly disclosed
• This procurement approach is the best path for ensuring that at least one of the Polar Icebreakers is delivered by 2030 when the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent needs to be retired from service. The precise timing of deliveries will be determined in conjunction with the shipyards once the agreements are in place

If pressed on benefits to the Canadian economy:

• Both Vancouver Shipyards and Chantier Davie are expected to be supported by many small and medium-sized Canadian businesses across the country, ensuring that the construction of the Polar Icebreakers will be a historic, cross-country effort to help drive Canada’s economic recovery from COVID-19
• Early estimates are that the construction of these ships will generate approximately 300 jobs per vessel at the shipyards, and 2,500 jobs across the marine supply chain

If pressed on the Davie National Icebreaker Center:

• The Government of Canada is not involved with the Chantier Davie National Icebreaker Center, and the center is not a part of the NSS

If pressed on procurement practices:

• This approach follows standard procurement practices and the information gathered through this Request for Information helped the government determine how best to proceed so that the Polar icebreaker is delivered in the most timely and efficient manner

Vancouver Shipyards’ non-combat package is a challenging program of work, which was made even more challenging by the inclusion of the large, one-off Polar Icebreaker. In 2019, Canada made the decision to substitute the one Polar icebreaker with a long run of 16 Multi-Purpose Vessels (MPVs). Adding a long production run of up to 16 MPVs will provide Vancouver Shipyards with a longer program horizon than a one-off Polar icebreaker, helping to break the cycle of short production runs and provide an opportunity to generate greater efficiencies.

On February 28, 2020, the Government of Canada issued a RFI, open to all Canadian shipyards, seeking information on domestic shipyard capability and capacity to construct and deliver a Polar-class icebreaker. The RFI closed on March 13, 2020, and PSPC received 4 responses for evaluation.

On June 9, 2020, Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards and Ontario-based Heddle Shipyards announced they will work together if they are awarded the contract to build the Polar icebreaker.

On September 16, 2020, Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards and Newfoundland-based Genoa Design International announced they will work together on 3D modeling and design services if they are awarded the contract to build the Polar Icebreaker.

In November 2020, Davie announced that they were partnering with Vard Marine Inc. and Serco Canada Marine in their bid to build the Polar Icebreaker, which they had launched earlier in August 2020 at the same time as their National Icebreaker Centre.

On February 2, 2021, Chantier Davie announced that it was welcoming GE as a strategic partner in its Polar Icebreaker program.

On May 6, 2021, the Government of Canada announced that it will move forward with the construction of 2 new Polar icebreakers as part of the NSS. The engineering and construction of 1 Polar icebreaker will be directed to Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, and engineering and construction of the other Polar Icebreaker will be directed to Chantier Davie, pending the successful completion of the ongoing selection process as the third strategic partner for large ships under the NSS.

Chantier Davie has pre-qualified as part of the process to select a third shipyard under the NSS to build 6 Program icebreakers for the CCG. This process was overseen by an independent fairness monitor. The yard is now going through the next steps which will include a third-party assessment of the shipyard’s infrastructure, submission of a formal proposal, and a due diligence process to ensure the shipyard is financially capable of performing the work and making any necessary upgrades to its infrastructure.

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