Royal Canadian Navy

The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is a three-ocean force responsible for the world's longest coastline, with commitments to NATO in the Atlantic, to continental defence alongside the United States, and to a growing Arctic presence as ice retreat opens northern waters to commercial and military traffic. Its fleet is small relative to that geography, and the service is midway through a recapitalisation that will replace almost every major class over the next two decades.

The core of the fleet is twelve Halifax-class frigates, modernised in the 2010s and being sustained into the 2040s to bridge the gap to their replacements. Six Harry DeWolf-class Arctic and offshore patrol ships, the last of which was delivered in 2025, have restored a genuine northern capability and have circumnavigated North America and operated as far south as Antarctic waters; the ageing Kingston-class coastal defence vessels are being paid off as they arrive. Four Victoria-class submarines provide a limited but strategically important underwater capability, and two Protecteur-class joint support ships are fitting out at Vancouver, with the first due in 2027 to end the RCN's long reliance on chartered and allied replenishment.

The River-class destroyer programme is the largest and most complex Canadian shipbuilding effort since the Second World War: fifteen ships derived from the British Type 26 design and fitted with the Aegis combat system, built at Halifax under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. The first three hulls are under construction contract, with HMCS Fraser expected in the early 2030s and the final ship not before the 2040s. The programme's scale and cost have made it a recurring subject of parliamentary scrutiny.

The Canadian Patrol Submarine Project is the other decisive commitment. Canada is acquiring up to twelve conventionally powered, under-ice capable submarines to replace the Victoria class, a programme valued in the tens of billions. After shortlisting Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and Hanwha Ocean in 2025, Ottawa selected the German Type 212CD in July 2026, a choice that ties Canadian undersea capability to the same design being built for Germany and Norway and that is intended to deliver boats capable of operating under Arctic ice.

Operationally the RCN sustains Operation Reassurance in European waters, contributing frigates to NATO standing groups, and Operation Caribbe against narcotics trafficking in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean. It deploys frigates to the Indo-Pacific under Operation Horizon, including transits of the Taiwan Strait conducted with allied ships, and runs the annual Operation Nanook series in the Arctic. Sustaining that tempo with a fleet in transition, and recruiting the crews to man both the current and future ships, remains the navy's central challenge.