The HMCS Windsor, shown here in making its initial voyage for Canada in 2001, is one of four 1980s-era British submarines acquired by Canada that are now nearing obsolescence. In July 2024, Canada announced plans to buy 12 new submarines capable of under-ice Arctic patrols. AFP/GETTY IMAGES
THE WATCH STAFF
Canada plans to quadruple its submarine fleet with the purchase of up to 12 new submarines to bolster its maritime security in the Arctic. The announcement came as Canada made its first formal commitment to meet NATO’s threshold of member countries spending 2% of their national GDP on defense.
“As the country with the longest coastline in the world, Canada needs a new fleet of submarines — and today, we’ve announced that we will move forward with this acquisition,” said Canadian Minister of National Defence Bill Blair during the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., in July 2024. “This new fleet will enable Canada to protect its sovereignty in a changing world and make valuable, high-end contributions to the security of our partners and NATO allies.”
Canadian defense officials are meeting with manufacturers and potential partners. A formal request for bids will be posted this year, according to Breaking Defense, a military news website. The new submarines must be able to be deployed in the Arctic and operate with an extended range. “Canada’s new fleet will need to provide a unique combination of these requirements to ensure that Canada can detect, track, deter and, if necessary, defeat adversaries in all three of Canada’s oceans while contributing meaningfully alongside allies and enabling the Government of Canada to deploy this fleet abroad in support of our partners and allies,” a government news release stated. The current Canadian submarine fleet consists of four Victoria-class subs acquired from the United Kingdom in the late 1990s. In its release, Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) said it plans to keep all four Victoria-class submarines operational into the mid- to late 2030s.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, at the July 2024 summit, that Canada would reach NATO’s 2% threshold by 2032. The submarine purchases are expected to contribute to that goal, Breaking Defense reported. A defense plan released in April forecast spending to reach 1.76% by 2030. Currently, Canada spends 1.4% of its GDP on defense.
Canada’s recently released defense plan “Our North, Strong and Free” was the first update since 2017’s “Strong, Secure, Engaged” and focused on Arctic readiness. In addition to the under-ice submarines, the plan envisions all-terrain vehicles for patrol mobility, Arctic offshore patrol vessels that could carry helicopters deep into the Arctic seas, and surveillance drones and other advance warning improvements to improve Arctic defenses.
In its July release, the DND outlined the need for the new submarines in stark national security terms. “Canada’s Northwest Passage and the broader Arctic region are already more accessible, and competitors are seeking access, transportation routes, natural resources, critical minerals, and energy sources through more frequent and regular presence and activity. They are exploring Arctic waters and the sea floor, probing our infrastructure and collecting intelligence. In the maritime domain, Russian submarines are probing widely across the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific Oceans and China is rapidly expanding its underwater fleet,” the release stated. “In response to these emerging security challenges, in Our North, Strong and Free, the Government of Canada committed to exploring options for renewing and expanding our submarine fleet, in order to allow Canada to detect and deter threats and control our maritime approaches. …Canada needs a new fleet of submarines to protect our sovereignty from emerging security threats.”
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