The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was assigned responsibility for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and controlling sea space in the western North Atlantic.

The St Laurent class were built to an operational requirement much like that which produced the British Type 12, and were powered by the same machinery plant.

They were built to counter nuclear, biological and chemical attack conditions, which led to a design with a rounded hull, a continuous main deck, and the addition of a pre-wetting system to wash away contaminants.

[6] The St. Laurent class was fitted with twin 3-inch (76 mm)/L50 calibre guns in two mounts for engaging both surface and air targets.

As with the British Type 12 design, the provision for long-range homing torpedoes (in this case BIDDER [Mk 20E] or the US Mark 35) were included.

[6] Following successful trials aboard the frigate Buckingham and sister ship Ottawa, plans to convert the St. Laurent class took shape.

The ship was launched on 19 February 1953 and commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 28 June 1957, initially carrying the hull number DDE 233 as a destroyer escort.

[15] Fraser began conversion to a destroyer helicopter escort on 2 July 1965 at Canadian Vickers in Montreal, Quebec, the last of her class to undergo the transformation.

[18] On 28 November 1980, Fraser rescued twelve British fisherman from the fishing vessel St Irene off the coast of the Netherlands.

[19] Fraser was declared surplus in the late 1990s by the Canadian Forces and given to the Artificial Reef Society of Nova Scotia (ARSNS) in 1998.

ARSNS had never considered sinking Fraser as an artificial reef diving attraction and she was towed to Bridgewater where she was stored for possible use as a museum ship.

[22] ARSNS had purchased the government wharf in Bridgewater on the east bank of the Lahave River, which became Fraser's home for close to 12 years.

[23] During that period, some groups such as the Sea Cadets, LaHave River Tourism Association, Atlantic Lighthouse Council, Bridgewater Fire Department, and Katimavik used the ship for events and the wardroom hosted meetings with visiting politicians.

Although the society was legally successful in its argument, the court challenge caused significant financial hardship and resulted in the vessel's exterior paint deteriorating considerably in the absence of funding over this 12-year period.

[25] The condition of Fraser became a local issue in the Nova Scotia's 2009 provincial election when signs appeared around Bridgewater criticising ARSNS chair Rick Welsford who was running as a Liberal candidate for the neglect of the ship.

[26] After a year of negotiations and a proposal made to the Department of National Defence (DND) by the Artificial Reef Society of Nova Scotia, Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay announced in a press release on 30 January 2009 that DND had reached an agreement with the ARSNS to re-purchase the ship and transfer ownership of the warship back to the federal government.

The release stated that ""DND may sink her to create an artificial reef, or scrap her, or move her to preserve her for heritage purposes.

While a Canadian Forces officer exchanged a cheque in the amount of $1.00 from the Government of Canada to the Artificial Reef Society of Nova Scotia, receiving a ceremonial key to the vessel, the two tugboats took Fraser in tow and returned her to Halifax Harbour in approximately 12 hours.

As a result of the lawsuit, the Federal Court of Canada ordered that the former HMCS Fraser be arrested at its berth at Jetty Lima at HMC Dockyard Annex in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

On the morning of 7 September 2010 the former HMCS Fraser was taken under tow by the civilian tug Tony MacKay and departed Halifax Harbour.