St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador - Ensuring that Canadian Coast Guard personnel have the equipment they need to keep Canada's waterways safe, clean and navigable is a top priority for the Government of Canada.
Today, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, joined by the Honourable Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, announced that, following a competitive process, the contract for the conversion and refit of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Judy LaMarsh has been awarded to St. John's Dockyard Ltd. (Newdock). This contract is valued at nearly $34.3 million under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, and will create up to 80 highly skilled and well-paying jobs in the region. Work on the vessel has already begun in December 2023, and is expected to continue until March 2025.
The important work to enhance the vessel's capabilities includes overhauling the propulsion, communication, and navigation systems. In addition, work will be undertaken on the crew accommodation and workspaces, and a new buoy crane will be installed.
The CCGS Judy LaMarsh performs icebreaking operations essential to the start of several fishing seasons, and tends to the navigational buoys in the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway, and Atlantic Canada. In addition, the vessel is available for search and rescue and other emergency response operations when needed. The vessel's main areas of operation are Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Once the seaway is open, the vessel will provide navigational assistance, and maintain aids to navigation from the Quebec border to Thunder Bay, Ontario.
This is just one example of how, through the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the Government of Canada is revitalizing the shipbuilding industry, creating good, skilled jobs, and building entirely new classes of ships to ensure Canada's marine services have safe, reliable and modern equipment to fulfill their missions.
