AUGUST 26, 2013 — Canada's Irving Shipbuilding last week announced that it had awarded several contract to Nova Scotia and Canadian suppliers as part of the $300 million Halifax Shipyard Modernization Program.

Halifax Shipyard is to undergo a major upgrade, but meantime plans to trim its labor force

The two year program will ready the shipyard to build Canada's future combatant ships.

Meantime, however, Canadian media report that Irving Shipbuilding says it will have to lay off more workers next month. Until the yard starts work on the first ships awarded under the National Ship Procurement Program, sometime in the second or third quarter of 2015, it does not have enough work to keep its current workforce of 900.

Scott Jamieson, vice-president of programs at the shipyard, would not say how many will be laid off, but said that Irving hopes to lessen the numbers by attracting more business.

The layoffs are expected to be completed by the end of September "followed by normal fluctuations," Canadian media quote Mr. Jamieson as saying.

Once work begins on the Arctic patrol ship contract, employment will ramp back up reaching a peak of 2,000 to 2,500 between 2020 and 2021.

You can get more details of the shipyard modernization plan HERE