Canada's plans for renewing and upgrading its navy's combatant and non-combatant fleets are forging ahead in a $33 billion program that points to Ottawa's eagerness to assert Canadian sovereignty in increasingly sensitive zones, including the Arctic waters shared with several other polar countries.

The National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy Secretariat in an upbeat statement said the shipbuilding program will create jobs and generate significant economic benefits for industry across Canada.

"This will involve skilled work in a variety of sectors, such as steel manufacturing, information technology and defense systems development and integration. Small and medium-sized enterprises across the country will benefit through the construction of large and small vessels, as well as work related to repairing and refitting," the NSPS secretariat said.

Canada has the longest coastline of any country. Recent moves toward modernizing the fleet are driven at least partly by Canadian experience of contesting sovereignty claims in the arctic and naval standoffs with Russian navy vessels.

The shipbuilding program is essential to sustaining Canada's sovereignty and prosperity by safeguarding international trade as well as enforcing Canadian law, NSPS said.

The latest awards followed months of consultation among the government and maritime and shipbuilding industries.

Construction of combatant and non-combat vessels will likely extend up to 30 years and will cost $33 billion at current estimates.

The combat ships to be built under the program will the Canadian navy's arctic offshore patrol ships and the surface combatant ships.

The non-combat package includes the navy's joint support ships, the coast guard's off-shore science vessels and a new polar icebreaker.

The government is planning to select competitive shipyards from among Canadian firms for 116 small ships, to be built for a cost of $2 billion. A different set of shipyards is involved with the construction of the larger vessels.

Regular maintenance and repair, valued at $500 million annually, will be open to all shipyards through normal procurement processes, NSPS said.

Irving Shipbuilding Inc. was selected to build 21 combat vessels and Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. was chosen to build the non-combat vessels, seven in all.

"The NSPS's selection of the two shipyards represents the largest procurement sourcing arrangement in Canadian history," NSPS said. It called the selection process "innovative and unique" because of their transparency and use of third parties, including Fairness Monitor; First Marine International, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers in overseeing the process.

U.S. company Alion Science and Technology was chosen as part of the team contracted to construct the non-combat-oriented vessels.

Working with team leader Seaspan Marine Corp., Alion will provide ship design and engineering through its wholly owned subsidiary, Alion Canada of Ottawa, Ontario.

"NSPS is intended to provide enhanced security for our Canadian neighbors, which will also benefit us here in the U.S. and throughout the Western Hemisphere," said Bahman Atefi, chairman and chief executive officer of Alion.

Imtech N.V., technical services provider in Europe and in the global marine market, will also be involved in the realization of the shipbuilding program as a technology partner of Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards. Imtech said it expects to work on eight vessels.

Seaspan is also building the polar icebreaker, more than 500 feet long, that was dubbed the crown jewel of the new Canadian fleet.

The high-tech icebreaker will be safeguarding Canada's polar sovereignty in the country's northern waters under the most extreme climate and weather conditions, as well as playing an important role in the protection of the environment and Canada's natural heritage in the Arctic region, the company said.