Irving Shipbuilding No.1 Defence Company in Canada for 2012

Canada’s leading defence and military magazine, Canadian Defence Review, has released its annual survey and ranking of defence companies in Canada. Irving Shipbuilding, a key supplier to the Royal Canadian Navy, and one of Canada’s most important shipbuilding firms, has been ranked Canada’s # 1 Defence Company for 2012 in the CDR survey.

This is the eighth year for the CDR survey of Canada’s Top Defence Companies and in announcing this year’s rankings, CDR Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Peter Kitchen commented, “Irving Shipbuilding is a survivor of the Boom & Bust era in Canadian shipbuilding and it is to be commended for its tenacity in sticking with a plan to have Halifax Shipyard become one of the Royal Canadian Navy’s most important contractors.”

The company’s patience finally paid off last year when Irving Shipbuilding was awarded the combatant portion of the NSPS program, valued at $25 billion, one of the biggest defence contracts in Canadian history.

“Irving Shipbuilding is the very embodiment of the type of company that CDR seeks to recognize in its annual Top 50 Rankings as it is not only a critical supplier to Canada’s military but also an extremely important player in the local and regional economies, employing hundreds of skilled workers directly and thousands more indirectly.”, commented CDR’s Kitchen.

“We are honoured to be named Canada’s Top Defence Company by this country’s leading defence and military journal, Canadian Defence Review (CDR),” said Jim Irving, CEO of Irving Shipbuilding Inc. “Irving Shipbuilding is one among other great companies on this list, which represents a growing, successful aerospace and defence industry across Canada. We thank the men and women of Irving Shipbuilding for their commitment and experience, we would not be where we are today without each one of them.”

In CDR’s Top 50 Defence Companies Rankings for 2012, there were seven new companies in the survey showing that the Top 50 Survey is not just an exercise in re-shuffling the deck of usual defence industry players. “It is a testament to the strength of the defence industry in Canada that we had difficulty in listing all the defence companies that we would have liked to.” said CDR’s Kitchen.

An evaluation panel consisting of CDR editorial staff and independent advisors ranked the companies based on factors such as economic impact, innovation, contribution to the nation’s security, and support of Canada’s military.

[mappress]

Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, May 4, 2012;