Good morning and good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for the introduction.
I'm pleased to be here to address the Auditor General's report on the national shipbuilding strategy. I'm here with Mr. Andy Smith, who is the deputy commissioner of shipbuilding and materiel, and my colleagues from Public Services and Procurement Canada, the Department of National Defence, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development.
As you know, this is the second Auditor General's report on the strategy, and it was focused on a relatively short period of time in its implementation. The audit period from January 1, 2018, to January 30, 2020, was, however, a very exciting time for the Canadian Coast Guard, during which we made significant progress with the renewal of the fleet under the national shipbuilding strategy. Two of the Coast Guard's new offshore fisheries science vessels were delivered during the audit window, with the delivery of a third ship in October 2020, so we have taken delivery of the first class of ships completed under the national shipbuilding strategy.
In March 2021, Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards cut steel for a fourth Coast Guard ship. This offshore oceanographic science ship will be the replacement for the CCGS Hudson and is on track for delivery in 2024. While this milestone is acknowledged to be outside of the audit period, it serves to demonstrate the momentum that has been building for the renewal of the Coast Guard fleet.
In 2019, the Government of Canada announced the most significant investment in Coast Guard history, with 24 new large vessels to be built under the national shipbuilding strategy. As a result, funded replacement plans were in place for 29 large ships at the time of the audit. One of those 29 ships was a polar icebreaker that was funded at the time of the audit but did not have a procurement strategy. Since that time, a government investment decision has been made for a second polar icebreaker, bringing us to a total of 30 new large ships for the Canadian Coast Guard under the national shipbuilding strategy. Also in 2019, an additional $2 billion was announced for a comprehensive vessel life extension program that would take our existing fleet to the limit of its technical life expectancy.
We think we're taking steps in the right direction. As noted by the Auditor General, interim measures are being implemented to sustain operational capabilities until the new ships are delivered, and the Coast Guard has started vessel life extensions for its fleet, with the first investment made in 2012. In addition, three medium icebreakers have been acquired to backfill while ships are out of service for vessel life extension work, and there's a competitive process under way to acquire a light icebreaker. This suite of interim measures will provide sufficient on-water capability until new ships are delivered under the national shipbuilding strategy.
The Auditor General noted the continuing risk of delay for shipbuilding projects and recommended that the Coast Guard implement mechanisms to obtain current and reliable schedules to support shipbuilding projects, and to ensure that scheduled targets and delivery timelines are monitored to support timely decision-making. I welcome this recommendation and consider it to be a foundational element of both project and program management. Scheduled monitoring and oversight is something we have been managing very closely with the shipyards and with Public Services and Procurement Canada, and we are making progress.
In the 10 years since the national shipbuilding strategy was initiated, we have learned a number of important lessons and look to continuously fold these lessons into follow-on projects. However, even the most experienced shipbuilders will caution that the process is never without risk. The bottom line is that Canadians can rest assured that we will take any action necessary to maintain delivery of critical Coast Guard services. At the same time, we will continue to work with Public Services and Procurement Canada to ensure the timely delivery of the new ships we need to renew the fleet.
I want to thank the Auditor General for her recommendations. We're committed to addressing them to ensure the success of both the national shipbuilding strategy and the renewal of the Canadian Coast Guard fleet.
Thank you.