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Some 250 workers have been laid off at Victoria Shipyards now that a multi-year contract for modernization of Halifax-class frigates is finished. At the same time the Esquimalt Graving Dock in Victoria, BC is being shut down for repair work until September, another factor in the layoffs.

Victoria Shipyards workers have been laid off during the past six weeks, Jonathan Whitworth, CEO of Seaspan, told the Times Colonist newspaper.

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Seaspan is the owner of Victoria Shipyards which operates out of the graving dock owned by the Canadian government.

The layoffs weren’t entirely unexpected. Work on the frigate modernization at the shipyard has finished.

The yard still has as many as 300 trades workers and another 100 support staff. They are involved in work on the Victoria-class submarines and other projects.

Whitworth said the firm has no control over the Canadian government’s decision to close down the graving dock for repair work on pumps there.

He told the Times Colonist that employee numbers are expected to increase in the fall when additional contracts come in for the yard. About 250 workers are expected to be hired then.

Early next year the first of two frigates from New Zealand are expected at the yard. They will undergo a modernization program.