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Ottawa quietly announces cost of building new supply ships has jumped by almost $1 billion

The cost to build the navy's often-delayed, long-anticipated supply ships has shot up once again — this time by almost $1 billion — the federal procurement department announced Friday.

Successive federal governments have tried for almost two decades to deliver joint support ships (JSS) to the navy — vessels used to replenish warships at sea.

After years of delay, the Liberal government awarded Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. a build contract in June 2020 for two ships — HMCS Protecteur and HMCS Preserver — at an anticipated cost of $2.44 billion.

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) chose to announce in a media statement on Friday — the eve of the August long weekend — a major amendment to the contract which drives up the price tag to $3.3 billion.

And that figure does not include the design cost, in-service support and other expenses related to the program. When those numbers are added, the total bill for taxpayers for owning and operating the ships is now expected to exceed $5.2 billion.

«This increased contract value was calculated by considering a number of factors, such as lessons learned from developing a new type of warship for the [Royal Canadian Navy], COVID-19 impacts that resulted in labour and supply chain disruptions, economic price adjustments, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, and changes in labour rates,» said the statement.

PSPC did not rule out further cost increases, saying the federal «continues to actively monitor progress on the JSS project and is working with [Vancouver Shipyards] to ensure timely delivery of both vessels to the RCN.»

The new ships are meant to replace the navy's long-retired original replenishment vessels, which were taken out of service a decade ago or more after 30

Read more on cbc.ca