Providing CAF members with the facilities and tools they need to support operations is one of our foremost priorities - we must deliver. This is why the Government of Canada is building a land-based testing facility (LBTF) on a portion of DND-owned land near Shearwater, Nova Scotia, to help bring 15 new Canadian Surface Combatants (CSC), that will be built for the Royal Canadian Navy, into service and support them throughout their lifespan.
This infrastructure will be critical in testing the new CSC ships' combat systems and will ensure the new ships are sea-ready once delivered. As there are no existing facilities capable of supporting this type of testing for CSC in Canada, we are delivering this new, purpose-built testing facility to carry out this work as part of the CSC's rigorous tests and trials program.
On September 30, we awarded a $485,000 contract to PCL Construction of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, to begin project support and design work on the future LBTF. Work with the contractor to determine the building's specifications will commence in 2022, and the design phase will run until 2023, when construction is expected to begin.
We expect this facility will be approximately 9000-m2
