Canada: Shipbuilding Contracts to Bring 30 Years of Opportunities

The province is helping Nova Scotians get ready to make the most of the federal shipbuilding contracts that will bring 30 years of opportunities and good jobs.

Premier Darrell Dexter released an analysis yesterday (January 24th) of the range of activities needed to create, produce, deliver and maintain the arctic offshore patrol ships, polar icebreaker, and research vessels.

Duke University’s Centre on Globalization, Governance and Competitiveness in Durham, North Carolina, prepared the study, which shows how local companies could become suppliers to the shipbuilding programs in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

Premier Dexter says Nova Scotia is built to build ships, and this study confirms that. He says Nova Scotians are ready to turn the corner toward prosperity, and this is another tool to help build the supply chain and the workforce that will get us ready for the opportunity of a generation.

More than 100 Nova Scotia firms were named in the study as some of the potential suppliers for the work Irving Shipbuilding and Seaspan will do.

The study includes ways to accelerate emerging technologies and support entrepreneurs to ensure Nova Scotia’s tradition of shipbuilding meets the demands of today’s marine environment.

The study also pinpoints global companies the province can attract to help grow a strong shipbuilding and ocean technology industry for the long term.

The $25-billion federal shipbuilding contracts will provide work for the next 30 years and 11,500 direct and indirect jobs in Nova Scotia in a few years time.

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Press Release, January 25, 2013; Image: novascotia