$1.5 billion in frigate repair contracts split between yards in three provinces

OTTAWA - The federal government is awarding $1 billion in warship maintenance work to two Canadian shipyards, with a third deal on the way.

The five-year contracts announced Tuesday award $500 million in work to Chantier Davie shipyard in Quebec and Seaspan Victoria Shipyards in British Columbia.

A similar deal with Irving Shipyards in Nova Scotia is on the way, the government says.

The contracts are part of a $7.5-billion plan to maintain Canada's 12 Halifax-class frigates for the rest of their operational lives, which are expected to last about another 20 years.

The ships are 27 years old and will eventually be replaced by new warships built under the national shipbuilding strategy.

Cabinet ministers Jean-Yves Duclos and Carla Qualtrough in Victoria revealed the details of the contracts in two simultaneous announcements Tuesday.

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  HMCS St. John's, one of Canada's Halifax-class frigates, heads through the fog as it returns to port in Halifax on Monday, July 23, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan