// REFERENCED ON THE SHOW
Irving Shipbuilding Inc.
Canada's largest naval shipbuilder and the prime contractor for combatant vessels under the federal National Shipbuilding Strategy. It designs and builds warships for the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard at the Halifax Shipyard, and maintains the RCN's Halifax-class frigate fleet.
📍 Halifax, Nova Scotia, CanadaEst. 1994✓ 100% first-party verified
// DISCUSSED ON THE SHOW
// ON THE RECORD WITH
Matrix HR (formerly Matrix Labour Leasing Ltd.)
Supplies
Long-term Halifax shipbuilding contract at $43/hour; seeking Red Seal welders and metal fabricators
// SELECTED PROJECTS
Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (Harry DeWolf class)
CompletedPrime contractor / builder · CAD $2.3 billion (build contract for six RCN ships)
All six AOPS for the Royal Canadian Navy have been delivered; construction of two custom AOPS variants for the Canadian Coast Guard is underway. Build-contract value confirmed via J.D. Irving newsroom (https://www.jdirving.com/en/newsroom/government-of-canada--irving-shipbuilding-mark-signing-of-$2.3b-aops-build-contract/).
River-class destroyers (Canadian Surface Combatant)
In progressPrime contractor / builder (with Lockheed Martin Canada and BAE Systems on the Type 26-based design)
Freshness-checked Jan 2026: 15-ship program in early construction. Irving lifted and flipped the first structural unit for the lead ship; keel-laying of the lead ship expected later in 2026; first delivery slated for the early 2030s. The vessels replace the RCN's Iroquois-class destroyers and Halifax-class frigates. Company's own June 2025 page describes 'commencement of full rate production' (https://shipsforcanada.ca/our-stories/irving-shipbuilding-celebrates-progress-under-the-national-shipbuilding-strategy).
Halifax-class frigate in-service support / modernization
In progressMaintenance / docking contractor
Irving maintains the RCN's Halifax-class frigates through modernization and docking work while the fleet transitions to the River-class destroyers.
// KEY PEOPLE
// NOTABLE
Irving Shipbuilding was selected in 2011 as Canada's prime contractor for combat vessels under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the largest naval procurement in Canadian history.
SOURCE ▸Irving Shipbuilding is a subsidiary of J.D. Irving, Limited and operates the Halifax Shipyard along Halifax Harbour at 3099 Barrington Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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