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Government officials say that involves what is known as “the cure process” in which bidders will be given details of how their proposals have failed to meet the stated criteria. They will then be given only one opportunity to fix issues with their bids.

If they are still considered “non-compliant” after the cure period they “will be eliminated from the competition,” according to the federal government.

Photo by Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press

Technical specifications are now being evaluated by the government. Later this year, the companies will provide the financial information related to their bids.

Warship builders submitted their bids on Nov. 30. A winning bid is expected to be selected sometime this year.

Irving Shipbuilding will begin construction of the first ship in the early 2020s and delivery of the first vessel is expected in the mid-2020s, according to the federal government.

But the project has been plagued with delays and controversy.

Approximately one-half of the CSC build cost is comprised of labour in the (Irving’s) Halifax yard and materials

The final cost of the ships is still unknown. In 2008 the government estimated the total cost of the project to be about $26 billion.

But in 2015 navy commander Vice Admiral Mark Norman voiced concern that taxpayers may not have been given all relevant information, and publicly predicted the cost for the ships alone would be around $30 billion.

Cost estimates for the project are now between $55 billion and $60 billion.

About half of the cost is for systems and equipment that will go on the 15 ships, according to federal documents obtained by Postmedia through the Access to Information law. “Approximately one-half of the CSC build cost is comprised of labour in the (Irving’s) Halifax yard and materials,” the documents added.