In defence of Canadian shipbuilding Jeffrey F. Collins: It would be nice if there were an off-the-shelf ship Canada could acquire, but none exist. Nations build ships to meet their own operational demands. By Jeffrey F. Collins March 5, 2021 HMCS Harry deWolf heads from the Halifax Shipyard on its way to being delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy dockyard in Halifax on July 31, 2020 (CP/Andrew Vaughan) Jeffrey F. Collins is a Fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a researcher in defence procurement Budgets, it is said, can sink warships. Reports by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) and Auditor General (AG) last week into Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) paint a challenging picture for the multi-decade effort to build 52 large ships for the navy and coast guard. The PBO report estimates that the cost for the yet-to-be-built 15 ship Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) has jumped from $60 billion to $77 billion. The AG meanwhile pins delays and cost overruns in the NSS on the lack of personnel both within shipyards and in government.