OTTAWA—Parliament’s budget officer says delays and inflation are adding billions to the cost of building a new fleet of warships for the Royal Canadian Navy.
In a report released this morning, budget officer Yves Giroux estimates the government will pay more than $84 billion for 15 new warships.
That represents a nine per cent increase over the $77−billion estimate that Giroux produced last year for the new vessels, which are slated to be built in Halifax.
The federal government has acknowledged that its $60−billion budget, which was set in 2017, is no longer adequate.
But it has yet to release its own updated cost estimate for the fleet, which will replace the navy’s frigates and destroyers.
While there are mounting concerns about the state of the navy’s current fleet, the first new vessel isn’t expected to be delivered until the early 2030s.
