Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project

The Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project (MCDVP) was a procurement project undertaken by the Department of National Defence beginning in the mid-1980s to find a replacement to fill the minesweeper, coastal patrol and reserve training needs of the Canadian Forces, replacing the Anticosti and Bay-class minesweepers, Porte-class gate vessels and Royal Canadian Mounted Police coastal launches in those roles. Today, these vessels are known as the Royal Canadian Navy's Kingston-class maritime coastal defence vessels (MCDVs).

Born from a need that dated back to the 1970s, the MCDV project was established to restore minesweeping capabilities to the Canadian Navy along with providing at-sea training vessels for reservists. The decision to begin the program began in the 1987 National Defence White Paper under the concept of "Total Force". This was intended to mask reductions in the regular force by increasing the capabilities of the reserve forces. This led the navy to add minesweeping and coastal patrol duties to the reserve force's list of duties.

There were five main criteria for the design. The ships were they must be built in Canada, they must be inexpensive to build, they must be operable by naval reservists, the design must have role flexibility included and they must be inexpensive to operate. This was exemplified by the Royal Navy's River-class minesweeper which was operated by the Royal Navy Reserve.

The federal government's procurement agency, the Department of Public Works, placed a Request for Proposal in September 1988 to Canadian shipbuilders for construction of twelve MCDVs. Six proposals were submitted, one from Finco Engineers, one from Halifax Dartmouth Industries (HDIL), one from Saint John Shipbuilding, one from Allied Shipbuilders, one from Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering, and one from MIL-Davie.

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