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Mohawk College in Hamilton has formed a new international partnership so students can learn how to build ships and work in marine industries at the Ontario Shipyards site in Hamilton.
Mohawk made the announcement at its campus on Fennel Avenue West on Wednesday.
The partnership is with Hanwha Ocean and Great Lakes shipbuilder Ontario Shipyards, which also announced a separate initiative to build up “large-scale shipbuilding in Ontario.”
Hanwha Ocean, a South Korean giant that builds submarines and other naval vessels among other contracts, will share knowledge and resources with Ontario Shipyards after signing a memorandum of understanding.
Ontario Shipyards is a private ship repair company, with operations in the Ontario cities of Hamilton, St. Catharines and Thunder Bay.
Glenn Copeland, CEO of Hanwha subsidiary Hanwha Defence Canada, told CBC Hamilton the new partnership is worth “tens of tens of millions of dollars,” but didn’t provide a specific breakdown of how each partner would be investing in the project.
The initiative will upgrade Canada’s entire marine sector over the next 10 years, said Hanwha Ocean CEO Charles Kim, who flew in from South Korea for the day.
This news comes a day after the federal government announced a new defence strategy prioritizing buying from Canadian defence manufacturers.
The Toronto Star reported that, in a news conference earlier Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford called on Ottawa to expand navy shipbuilding in Ontario and give work to Ontario Shipyards in particular.
Opportunities for around 1,000 students: Mohawk
Hanwha Ocean will help support the creation of a 35-metre naval training and recruitment vessel that Ontario Shipyards plans to build in 2026.
The two companies also entered a letter of intent with Mohawk to create a shipbuilding training hub in Hamilton.
Similar to the college’s longtime partnership with KF Aerospace at the Hamilton airport, this new program will lead to the development of special shipbuilding certifications and credentials, said college president Paul Armstong. It will also support apprenticeships and co-ops, and research in automation, robotics and manufacturing.
The three-way partnership with the college will involve programming in trades and disciplines including welding, electrical, millwright, marine mechanics, robotics and logistics.
There’s no firm timeline as to when students will start working at the shipyard, Armstrong told CBC Hamilton, but it will likely be a year to 18 months. He said the partnership will likely impact 1,000 to 1,200 students across multiple programs by the time it’s fully up and running.
In November 2024, Mohawk announced a $50-million deficit and multiple cuts to jobs and programming that it carried out over several months. Armstrong said his commitment at the time — to focus on “education and training related to what employers need” — is reflected in the shipbuilding agreement.
“That’s how we’re going to be able to navigate what colleges are going to be facing.”
Partnership fits government’s defence strategy, MP says
At Mohawk on Wednesday, Hamilton Mountain MPP Monica Ciriello said she was attending on behalf of the premier and spoke of the partnership in glowing terms, calling it an effort that will define the marine industry for “generations to come.”
Sean Padulo, CEO of Ontario Shipyards, said his brother served in the Canadian Forces and described shipbuilding as giving people like his brother the equipment they need to have “the best chance of coming home safely.”
St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe and Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath were also in attendance. Horwath called the partnerships “magic for us,” saying they’ll help Hamilton contribute to Canada’s next industrial revolution.
The federal government has unveiled its ‘Build at Home’ defence industrial strategy, which shifts away from heavy reliance on the U.S. and other foreign suppliers and makes having military equipment built in Canada the default.
St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle called it “exactly the kind of partnership” called for by Canada’s new defence strategy.
Copeland, with the Hanwha subsidiary, said that as early as this summer, his company will work to bring people from Ontario Shipyards to South Korea and vice versa.
Hanwha Ocean is also working on a project to build up to 12 submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy. Copeland said the first will be delivered by 2032.
