Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today on behalf of our over 2,000 employees at the Halifax shipyard.
With me today is Kevin Young, senior vice-president of the Canadian surface combatant program.
I'm a shipbuilder with 35 years of experience, including 14 in the NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, where I participated in delivering 40 ships through eight different programs. My colleague, Kevin Young, has senior leadership experience in nuclear submarine construction programs at BAE in the United Kingdom. We have chosen to live here in Canada because we were drawn to the great inspiration of the national shipbuilding strategy.
I want to take this opportunity to personally invite the committee to visit the Halifax shipyard. I am confident that you will be pleased with what we are getting done for Canada.
I know I have limited time, so my remarks will briefly address three main areas: first, the economic impact of the NSS; second, the COVID impacts on the AOPS program; and third, the preparation for the construction of the CSC.
Since 2011, Irving Shipbuilding has invested over $500 million into building one of the most modern indoor shipbuilding facilities in North America. In terms of core capability, the Halifax shipyard compares quite favourably to most shipyards in North America. We have recruited and trained a world-class workforce here in Canada, and since 2012, the size of the workforce at the shipyard has more than doubled. We are now the largest employer of trade apprentices in Atlantic Canada.
Positive economic impacts are being felt across the country. According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, for every one dollar spent in Canada on shipbuilding, up to $1.3 is achieved in benefits to the national economy. These benefits are in addition to ships acquired through this investment. Another study by the Conference Board of Canada shows that the work at the Halifax shipyard will increase Canada's GDP by $9.8 billion from 2013 to 2024.
Although COVID undeniably is impacting our operations, our workers have maintained momentum on AOPS while also conducting critical maintenance on the Halifax-class frigates. Since the pandemic started, we delivered two AOPS, with a third coming later this summer. We are well into production on AOPS four and five as well.
HMCS Harry DeWolf was the first new ship delivered to the navy since 1999, and last summer marked the navy's first transit of the Northwest Passage since the 1950s.
Last year we completed a major ship repair project on HMCS Charlottetown, followed immediately by the dry-docking of HMCS Ville de Québec. This sustained tempo at the Halifax shipyard is critical to Canada in maintaining reaction forces able to respond to serious threats to global peace and security.
These successes did not come easily. For over two years, with the impact still ongoing, COVID caused a full shutdown of production work on three separate occasions. To date, on AOPS, we have lost over one million production hours and about 15 months of scheduled progress. Like most employers, we are suffering from the COVID-induced “great resignation”. Our trades attrition rate has nearly tripled, causing a loss of learning and leaving us with a workforce that is less experienced today than it was several years ago, but we are responding. We are actively recruiting highly skilled workers, both here in Canada and worldwide, to achieve the resource levels required for increased AOPS production, increased repair workloads and CSC.
The disruptions in our global supply chain have also been significant, with increased costs and delays in procuring raw materials, finished goods and logistics. Steel, copper and shipping costs have skyrocketed. Shipbuilders are feeling the impacts of inflation, just like everyone across Canada and the world.
Turning our eye to the future, we are ready to meet the challenges on the horizon with our full energy and lessons learned from the last few years. Through Canada's program leadership, we are closing in on an agreed technical baseline and a refined design solution for the Canadian service combatant.
In 2011, Canada was looking at a notional CSC of similar size and scale to the current Halifax-class frigates. Since that time, the actual CSC has grown in size and complexity to satisfy the navy's operational requirements. We need a ship that will protect the nation's interest and the sailors who will take it in harm's way.
We should keep in mind that shipbuilding programs, particularly the CSC program, are a truly national endeavour and bigger than any single company or government department. We encourage the government to apply a single point of accountability for the execution of shipbuilding. This role will consolidate authority and enable difficult decisions and complex trade-offs to be made more effectively.
In closing, I do hope you take me up on the offer to visit our Halifax shipyards soon, so that you can see the work under way and meet the Canadians working on this important project. There is a real sense of purpose at our shipyard. We are proud of our work in building first-class warships for Canada.
Thank you.