Davie wins C$11.3 billion icebreaker contract to secure Canadian trade routes

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Canada has awarded Davie Shipbuilding a C$11.3 billion contract to design and build six icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard, providing new capacity to keep major waterways open and support expanding operations in the Arctic.

The fixed price contract, excluding taxes, is the largest shipbuilding award in Québec’s history. Construction at Davie’s Lévis shipyard is scheduled to begin in 2027. The first vessel is expected in 2032, with the complete fleet planned to enter service by 2038.

The ships will replace aging heavy and medium icebreakers used in Atlantic Canada, the St. Lawrence waterways and the Great Lakes during winter. During summer, the fleet will operate in the Arctic, where the Coast Guard faces growing demand for escort, resupply, emergency response and maritime security services.

Icebreakers are essential infrastructure for Canadian shipping. Much like snowploughs clearing a highway, the vessels create navigable channels through ice so commercial ships can reach ports and industrial facilities.

The new Polar Class 3 vessels will support aids to navigation, vessel traffic services, search and rescue, environmental response and northern resupply operations. They will also provide platforms for Arctic science missions and strengthen Canada’s presence in increasingly active northern waters.

Each ship will be 114.9 metres long, with a maximum breadth of 21.2 metres and a draft of 7.6 metres. Davie said the design will accommodate as many as 68 crew members and mission personnel.

The vessels are expected to maintain 3 knots through ice measuring 1.4 metres thick. They will have a range of 20,000 nautical miles at 11 knots without refuelling, allowing them to remain deployed across distant Canadian waters for extended periods.

Each ship will also be able to operate and maintain one medium Canadian Coast Guard helicopter. Significant general and containerised cargo capacity will support deliveries to northern communities and remote operating locations where road and rail connections are limited or unavailable.

The Canadian government estimates that the construction programme will create nearly 5,000 jobs and contribute close to C$650 million annually to the national economy.

Under Canada’s Buy Canadian Policy, the programme will prioritise Canadian steel, materials, manufacturing capacity and suppliers. That requirement is expected to generate work across metal fabrication, engineering, electrical systems, machinery, marine equipment and specialist logistics.

The six vessel series also gives Davie an opportunity to improve productivity as construction progresses. Repeated production within a single class typically allows a shipyard and its suppliers to apply lessons from the first vessel to later ships, reducing rework and improving scheduling.

Davie Chairman Alex Vicefield said building multiple vessels within one class would allow the shipyard to develop skills and increase productivity with each delivery. He said the programme would also give the company greater confidence to invest in research and development.

The contract follows a C$19.6 million award made to Davie in 2024 for initial design work. The next phase will cover basic, functional and production design before full construction begins.

The Canadian Coast Guard currently operates the world’s second largest icebreaker fleet after Russia. Its vessels regularly assist commercial traffic and support government operations across one of the world’s longest coastlines.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said the six ships would keep trade routes accessible while strengthening domestic shipbuilding capacity and Canada’s ability to operate independently in the Arctic.

Canadian Coast Guard Commissioner Kevin Brosseau said the vessels would improve the service’s ability to keep waterways open, support coastal and northern communities, conduct science missions and respond to maritime emergencies.

The investment forms part of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy, which is renewing Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy fleets while rebuilding domestic marine manufacturing capacity.

Davie joined the strategy as a shipbuilding partner in April 2023. Since 2012, the company has received more than C$7.74 billion in Canadian government contracts covering the construction, repair and maintenance of Coast Guard and naval vessels, before the latest six ship award.