Government of Canada and Irving Shipbuilding mark the installation of the final piece of steel frame for the Assembly and Ultra Hall Production facility
The Government of Canada and Irving Shipbuilding marked the installation of the final piece of steel frame for the Assembly and Ultra Hall Production facility that will produce the Navy’s newest combat fleet starting in September 2015. The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada and the Honourable Peter MacKay, Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Canada and Minister Responsible for Nova Scotia joined Irving Shipbuilding’s executive team and provincial and municipal leaders to celebrate this important National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) milestone, the company said in its press release.
“The Government of Canada congratulates Irving Shipbuilding on the important progress being made on this facility. Through our Government's commitment to providing state of the art equipment for our men and women in uniform, we are providing jobs and economic opportunities for families across the province,” said Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister Responsible for Nova Scotia. “As Nova Scotians, we can be proud of the pivotal role our province is playing in our country's National Shipbuilding Strategy.”
Employees of Walters Steel and members of Ironworkers Local 752 install the signed structural steel beam on Irving Shipbuilding's new production building, representing two of the more than 3,000 full-time equivalents generated to date from the Company's NSPS commitments.
“We’re extremely pleased with the progress on our facilities and are confident we’ll be ready to start building in September of next year,” said Kevin McCoy, President, Irving Shipbuilding. “We expect our buildings to be weather tight by the end of this year, when we’ll shift our focus to the interior and the incredible amount of work left to make them production-ready. The men and women of Irving Shipbuilding certainly can’t wait to get started.”
“The Government of Nova Scotia congratulates Irving Shipbuilding and the Government of Canada on this important milestone,” said Nova Scotia Environment Minister Andrew Younger. “Nova Scotia is proud to be known around the world for our shipbuilding abilities, and we are pleased to be a partner in making sure we maximize the benefits of this project for our economy and our communities now, and into the future.”
“We’d like to take the opportunity to thank the more than 3,000 direct and indirect employees across Canada estimated to be involved in NSPS-related work based on our commitments alone. They’re working on updating and modernizing our yard and facilities, they’re building us new systems and equipment, and they’re doing all the preparatory design, planning and procurement work to make the first set of ships go as smoothly as possible,” added McCoy. “It’s been said often that a defence program of this magnitude extends far beyond the shipyard itself. We have certainly seen evidence of that, even at these still early stages.”
Irving Shipbuilding has committed more than $310M in Canada to date in contracts, procurement, goods and services related to the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), including both the Yard Modernization program and the work underway on the AOPS Definition Contract. A full 47%, or $146M, of that commitment has been made in Nova Scotia, engaging companies owned or operating in the province in our supply chain. This commitment has created more than 1,500 full time equivalent (FTE) positions in Nova Scotia with our company, with our suppliers and with their direct suppliers and $75M in employment income. In addition, it has generated $21M in local, provincial and federal taxes paid, as well as $56M in consumer spending over a two-year period.
Across Canada, the NSPS commitment to date has boosted Canadian gross domestic product (GDP) by $255M, created more than 3,000 full time equivalent (FTE) positions across Canada (direct and indirect) and generated $187M worth of employment income in the country over a two-year period. It has also generated more than $139M worth of consumer spending and approximately $63M worth of taxes for federal, provincial and local governments.