Algoma Steel inks $182M deal to help build fleet of polar icebreakers - CBC

Algoma Steel will supply Vancouver-based Seaspan Shipyards with the steel to build six new polar icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard. (Seaspan Shipyards website)Social SharingIn a year where they’ve dealt with mass layoffs and crippling U.S. tariffs, Algoma Steel officials in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., have something to celebrate. 

The company has been awarded a $182 million contract to help build a new fleet of polar icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard. 

The deal was made with Seaspan Shipyards, where six new vessels — and up to another 10 down the road — will be built at the Vancouver-based facility. 

Officials with Seaspan say they’ve purchased Algoma Steel products in the past, but that they’re now prioritizing a more "intentional partnership" with the Sault steel supplier.

“The most important thing is that [Algoma Steel] is Canadian,” said Kate Morton, vice-president of supply chain at Seaspan Shipyards.

“We’re super committed to building that sovereign capability in shipbuilding, so Algoma was the perfect match for that.”

Digital rendering of a Canadian Coast Guard polar icebreaker that Algoma Steel will assist in constructing. (Seaspan Shipyards website)

Algoma Steel will supply around 24,000 metric tonnes of structural steel — or 4,000 metric tonnes per vessel — to support Seaspan’s construction of the icebreakers through Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy. 

Morton says the agreement marks the mill’s largest order of polar-class steel in its history and gives Algoma “a decades-long” guarantee that it will have an eager customer out west. 

“That will really help sustain their business,” she said. “They can have the certainty that there are good jobs in Sault Ste. Marie. It’s super important.”

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In an email to CBC News, Algoma Steel spokesperson Laura Devoni said the company appreciates Seaspan’s confidence in providing the shipyard with in-demand ice-breaker plate.

“Being selected as Seaspan’s strategic steel supplier is a clear signal that Algoma Steel’s shift toward the domestic plate market is working and underscores the importance of the Buy Canadian federal policy,” she wrote.

“This gives multi-year demand supporting the National Shipbuilding Strategy aligning our domestic industry with Canada’s priorities. It supports the work of our team in Sault Ste. Marie and is a testament to our transition to electric arc steelmaking.”

Crewed by 50 people, each vessel once completed will be 100 metres in length and will have the ability to break up to three metres of ice in the Arctic, according to Morton.

Inside the plate mill at Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie. (Alex Flood/CBC)

Sault Ste. Marie MPP Terry Sheehan, who recently visited and toured Seaspan Shipyards, said the agreement comes at a critical time locally.

“It will provide work for the steelworkers and they’re going to be part of protecting our national sovereignty,” he said. 

“Our Arctic sovereignty is being infringed on by other state actors. This is a historic day for Algoma Steel.” 

Sheehan said the Algoma Steel CEO told him the company will begin producing ice-breaker plate for Seaspan at the beginning of next year.

During a visit to the Sault in December 2025, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said the federal government would find a way to re-hire up to 500 of the 1,000 people who were laid off at Algoma Steel by the end of this year.

While there’s no clear timeline on that promise, Sheehan said he’s actively working with federal partners and the company to create two new divisions at the mill — a beam division and a specialized plate division.

“Those two divisions, once completed, will have 500 permanent [employees] working there,” he said. “There will also be 600 to 800 jobs in construction and maintenance as they build it.”

A College of Sports Media grad, Alex joined CBC News as a journalist in his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie in 2025. When he's not reporting, you'll find Alex cheering on the Canucks, playing piano and watching Schitt's Creek for the millionth time.

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