A historic agreement was signed, starting the rebuilding of American icebreaker fleets.
The Canadian thanksgiving came early as two Canadian shipyards struck ice last weekend in Washington. Seaspan’s Canadian Multi Purpose Icebreaker (MPI) design was selected for six Arctic Security Cutters (ASC). Canada’s Davie shipyard received an order for five. Catch a clip of the signing here.
Canada’s Seaspan is partnered with Finnish Rauma Marine Constructions and Aker Arctic Technology, and Bollinger in the US. Quebec-based Davie shipyard owns Finnish Helsinki Shipyard and Gulf Copper, a yard in Galveston,Texas.
The bilateral MOU (Finland - US (where you ICE Pact?)) is a rare example of strategic cooperation between Arctic nations and could be the tip of the iceberg with important Canadian consortia participation. In January, 2025, President Trump had said: “We’re going to order about 40 Coast Guard icebreakers, big ones.”
According to High North News, hurdles remain: this is an MOU, no contracts have yet been signed; the exact number of vessels and cost are yet to be determined; an exemption needs to be granted to the Jones Act. The current costs of 11 ships are estimated at $6.1B USD.
Both
’s breaking and First Look at the USA-Finland Icebreaker Deal (who I discovered through the latter) have lengthy breakdowns on the program.The In-Sec-M, the Canadian Cybersecurity Cluster concluded a mission to Estonia and Lithuania, an initiative that brought together leaders from Canada’s cybersecurity in an important milestone in Canada’s cybersecurity cooperation with the Baltics.
INCYBER Canada 2025 Forum brought thousands together in Montréal
Denmark souped up its arctic capability, committing to additional arctic capable ships, F35s, radar and maritime patrol aircraft. The Danish Embassy in Canada released this handy infographic:
Canada’s submarine program competition is in the final stretch
Canada’s Deputy Minister of Defence, Stefanie Beck, visited the TKMS shipyard in Kiel (Germany), coming on the heels of German Deputy Defence Minister for Armament Jens Plötner’s visit to Canada earlier in the month. TNSR reports that Boris Pistorius, German Federal Minister of Defence, and Tore O. Sandvik, Norwegian Minister of Defence will be visiting Canada next week.
With a Korean defence roadshow in the works, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to the region at the end of the month, all signs indicate Canada’s submarine procurement is the final innings.
The final bits
Poland’s Deputy Minister of State Assets visited Canadian companies such as Bombardier, CAE, CGI, Ultra Intelligence and Communication. Polish Huta Stalowa Wola S.A./HSW S.A. & Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A. toured Paradigm Shift’s Toronto facility, building on their signed MOU.
On Wednesday (15 October), 13 Allies (Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Türkiye and the United Kingdom) agreed to initiate the development of a multinational simulated training capability. The capability will make multinational cross-domain training more accessible and less expensive, and significantly reduce the lead time to plan and execute exercises.
Candace Laing, the President & CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce headed to the UK touting economic ties, benefits for society, and security.
Meanwhile, Aéro Mtl and STIQ wrapped up an over-capacity annual Quebec defence industry symposium.
Upcoming events:
Free Trade with Europe (CETA): what’s in it for us? (Virtual) Tickets, Mon, 27 Oct 2025 at 1:00 PM | Eventbrite
The Ontario Critical Minerals Forum coming to Toronto November 18-19
The Canada EU Economic Chamber launched registration for its annual event in Brussels taking place November 27
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Thanks for the shout out and link!
No Jones Act waiver required on the icebreakers. Jones Act only applies to commercial vessels that move stuff directly between U.S. ports. For USCG/USN, the President can waive the build in the USA requirement. And he did with that White House memorandum.
Note that icebreaking doesn’t fall under the Jones Act at all, unless you move goods between US ports (to include platforms, I think). Finnish icebreakers supported Alaskan oil exploration back when we did such things. :)