Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship project
Project summary
Under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) project has delivered 6 ships to the Royal Canadian Navy.
Designated the Harry DeWolf-class, in honour of the Canadian wartime naval hero Vice-Admiral Harry DeWolf, the AOPS perform a wide variety of tasks:
- Provide increased presence and conduct surveillance operations throughout Canada’s waters, including in the Arctic
- Support Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) sovereignty operations
- Participate in a wide variety of international operations, such as anti-smuggling, anti-piracy or international security and stability
- Contribute to humanitarian assistance, emergency response and disaster relief, domestically or internationally
- Conduct Search and Rescue (SAR) and facilitate communications among other ships
- Support CAF core missions, including capacity building in support of other nations
- Support other government departments in their ability to enforce their respective mandates
Since 2021, the AOPS operate in the Arctic between June and October, providing a greater and longer CAF presence in the North. The AOPS are designed and built as Polar Class Notation PC5 ships, enabling unescorted patrols to areas of the Arctic that were previously inaccessible.
Project phases
Currently in Phase 4: Implementation
1. Identification
1. Identification
- Completed through the National Shipbuilding Strategy
2. Options analysis
2. Options analysis
- Completed through the National Shipbuilding Strategy
3. Definition
3. Definition
- Project approval: December 13, 2012
- Contract award: March 7, 2013
4. Implementation
4. Implementation
- Project approval: December 11, 2014
- Contract award: December 23, 2014
- Cut steel for ship 1: September 1, 2015
- Cut steel for ship 2: August 25, 2016
- Cut steel for ship 3: December 19, 2017
- Revised project approval for 6 ships: November 2, 2018
- Revised contract award for 6 ships: December 21, 2018
- Cut steel for ship 4: May 3, 2019
- Ship 1 delivery: July 31, 2020
- Cut steel for ship 5: May 19, 2021
- Ship 2 delivery: July 15, 2021
- Cut steel for ship 6: August 15, 2022
- Ship 3 delivery: September 2, 2022
- Initial Operational Capability: December 13, 2022
- Ship 4 delivery: August 31, 2023
- Ship 5 delivery: August 29, 2024
- Ship 6 delivery: August 21, 2025
- Full Operational Capability: Fall 2026
5. Close-out
5. Close-out
- 2027
Learn more about the Defence procurement process.
Additional information
Project updates
Project updates
August 2025
HMCS Robert Hampton Gray was delivered to the RCN on August 21, 2025.
June 2025
HMCS Frédérick Rolette was commissioned into service with the RCN on June 13, 2025.
December 2024
HMCS Robert Hampton Gray was launched in December 2024.
August 2024
HMCS William Hall was officially commissioned into RCN service in May 2024. The naming ceremony for HCMS Frédérick Rolette took place in May 2024, and the ship was delivered in August 2024.
August 2023
HMCS William Hall was delivered to the RCN on August 31, 2023.
September 2022
HMCS Max Bernays was delivered to the RCN on September 2, 2022.
August 2022
Construction of HMCS Robert Hampton Gray, began and was marked with a steel cutting ceremony on August 18, 2022.
July 2022
The three mega-blocks for HMCS William Hall, have now been moved from inside Irving Shipbuilding Inc.’s Halifax Shipyard Module Hall facility to the exterior land level construction area where they will be joined together to form the overall vessel for further outfitting and preparations for launch in 2023.
December 2021
HMCS Harry DeWolf was commissioned into service in June 2021 and completed its first operational tour – the circumnavigation of North America – from August to December 2021, which included a transit through the Northwest Passage.
October 2021
HMCS Max Bernays was launched in October 2021.
July 2021
HMCS Margaret Brooke was delivered on July 15, 2021.
May 2021
Sea trials for the second ship, HMCS Margaret Brooke, were completed in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Construction of the fifth ship, HMCS Frédérick Rolette, began.
April 2021
HMCS Harry DeWolf completed its third post-delivery work period in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Following completion of this work period, the ship conducted warm weather trials by the Caribbean Islands.
February 2021
HMCS Harry DeWolf completed its second post-delivery work period in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Following the completion of this work period, the ship successfully conducted cold weather and ice trials on the South-East coast of Baffin Island, Nunavut.
January 2021
The first mega-block of HMCS Max Bernays was moved from inside the Halifax Shipyard’s Assembly and Ultra Hall facility to the exterior land-level construction point.
October 2020
The crew of HMCS Harry DeWolf began their operational and readiness activities, and the ship sailed at sea for the first time under RCN command.
August 2020
The name of the sixth AOPS, HMCS Robert Hampton Gray, was announced.
July 2020
Following the completion of final sea trials in mid-July, HMCS Harry DeWolf was delivered to the Government of Canada on July 31, 2020. The ship remained at the CFB Halifax Dockyard for several weeks while it completed its first post-delivery work period, which included final preparations and outfitting. During this time, the crew also began their operational readiness activities and training before the ship officially entered into RCN service in summer 2021.
February 2020
The first round of builder sea trials for HMCS Harry DeWolf were successfully completed in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
November 2019
HMCS Margaret Brooke, was successfully launched in Halifax. Builder trials for HMCS Harry DeWolf were held in late-November.
July 2019
Construction of the new NJ Jetty at the CFB Halifax Dockyard was completed.
May 2019
Construction of the fourth ship, HMCS William Hall, began.
December 2018
A contract amendment was signed for the acquisition of a sixth ship and extension of the schedule.
November 2018
The Government of Canada confirmed that the RCN will receive a sixth AOPS and announced that the production schedule will be extended by 18 months, thereby mitigating the production gap between the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship and River-class destroyer construction.
October 2018
The first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship was officially named HMCS Harry DeWolf during the traditional naming ceremony.
September 2018
HMCS Harry DeWolf was launched to water in September 2018.
The first two of three mega-blocks of HMCS Margaret Brooke were moved from inside the Halifax Shipyard’s Assembly and Ultra Hall facility to the exterior land-level construction point.
December 2017
Construction of the third ship, HMCS Max Bernays, began.
HMCS Harry DeWolf’s third and final mega-block moved from inside the Halifax Shipyard’s Assembly and Ultra Hall facility to the exterior land level construction point, where it was joined to the first two mega-blocks to form the complete ship.
July 2017
The first two of three mega-blocks of HMCS Harry DeWolf were moved from inside the Halifax Shipyard’s Assembly and Ultra Hall facility to the exterior land-level construction point.
August 2016
Construction of the second vessel, HMCS Margaret Brooke, began.
September 2015
Construction of the first vessel, HMCS Harry DeWolf, began. The future fleet has been designated the Harry DeWolf-class. The other vessels in the class have also been named:
- HMCS Margaret Brooke
- HMCS Max Bernays
- HMCS William Hall
- HMCS Frédérick Rolette
The AOPS project also includes jetty infrastructure in Esquimalt, B.C., and Halifax, N.S., and a berthing and fueling facility in Nanisivik, Nunavut.
January 2015
The Government of Canada announced a $2.6 billion contract (taxes included) to Irving Shipbuilding Inc. to build the Harry DeWolf-class patrol ships, marking the start of the construction phase under the National Shipbuilding Strategy.
Industry
Commitment to Canadian Industry
The National Shipbuilding Strategy’s selection of the two shipyards to rebuild the fleets of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) was applied in a comprehensive and innovative way by following principles of extensive industry consultations, along with the establishment of a strong governance structure and the involvement of independent third parties.
Irving Shipbuilding Inc. (ISI), the shipyard selected for the combat package of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, was responsible for engaging with industry. Through these engagements, the shipyard established contracts to source services, materials, equipment and systems for use in the design and construction of the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS). While the delivery of the RCN AOPS is complete, work is ongoing on the construction of 2 AOPS ships for the CCG.
The Industrial and Regional Benefits (IRB) policy is being applied to the AOPS contract for all 8 ships. The total IRB obligation is $5.7 billion, which includes obligations for both the RCN and CCG AOPS; $3.1 billion has been completed as of December 2022, with work ongoing.
Contractors
Some of the links below lead to websites that are not part of the Government of Canada and may be available in English only.
Harry DeWolf-class patrol ship specifications
- Length: 103 metres
- Beam: 19 metres
- Crew: up to 65
- Estimated life expectancy: 25 years of service per vessel
Features of the Harry DeWolf class can be found at: Harry DeWolf class
Project costs
Project costs
- The Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship project acquisition budget was $4.98 billion (excluding taxes). This included ship design, project management, materials and labour needed to build all the ships, jetty and fueling infrastructure, initial spare parts, technical data, training of crew, contingency, amongst other items.
- Final figures do not include Canadian Coast Guard ships.
- In 2017, one in-service support contract for 35 years was awarded to Thales for both the Joint Support Ships and Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships and is valued at $5.2 billion.
Issues/Risks
Issues/Risks
- COVID-19 had an impact on all procurement projects in some form. Challenges impacted the project schedule and cost to varying degrees. We monitored the situation closely and in collaboration with our industry partners, we worked on mitigation measures where possible to keep our respective workforces safe.