Toronto serves on MARLANT missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Atlantic Ocean and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and exclusive economic zone.
The Halifax-class frigate design of which Toronto belongs, was ordered by the Canadian Forces in 1977 as a replacement for the aging St. Laurent, Restigouche, Mackenzie, and Annapolis classes of destroyer escorts, which were all tasked with anti-submarine warfare.
[4] In July 1983, the federal government approved the budget for the design and construction of the first batch of six new frigates of which Toronto was a part, out of twelve that were eventually built.
[5] To reflect the changing long term strategy of the Navy during the 1980s and 1990s, the Halifax-class frigates was designed as a general purpose warship with particular focus on anti-submarine capabilities.
[6] As built the Halifax-class vessels deployed the CH-124 Sea King helicopter, which acted in concert with shipboard sensors to seek out and destroy submarines at long distances from the ships.
[6] As built, the anti-shipping role is supported by the RGM-84 Harpoon Block 1C surface-to-surface missile, mounted in two quadruple launch tubes at the main deck level between the funnel and the helicopter hangar.
[5][6] For anti-aircraft self-defence the ships are armed with the Sea Sparrow vertical launch surface-to-air missile in two Mk 48 Mod 0 eight-cell launchers placed to port and starboard of the funnel.
[6] A Raytheon/General Dynamics Phalanx Mark 15 Mod 21 Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) is mounted on top of the helicopter hangar for "last-ditch" defence against targets that evade the Sea Sparrow.
Further improvements, such as modifying the vessel to accommodate the new Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone helicopter and satellite links will be done separately from the main Frigate Equipment Life Extension (FELEX) program.
The existing 57 mm Mk 2 guns were upgraded to the Mk 3 standard, the Harpoon missiles were improved to Block II levels, the Phalanx was upgraded to Block 1B, and the obsolete Sea Sparrow system was replaced by the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile.
The frigate was commissioned into the Canadian Forces on 29 July 1993 at Toronto, Ontario, and carries the hull classification symbol FFH 333.
[12] On 6 September 2005, Toronto, with Athabaskan, St. John's and the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Sir William Alexander, were dispatched to the Gulf of Mexico to aid the United States in their response to the flooding of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.
[13] In 2008, Toronto with Shawinigan and the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Pierre Radisson made an Arctic patrol through Frobisher Bay as part of Operation Nanook.
[20] During the frigate's deployment, Toronto participated in three naval exercises and led Task Unit 2 while operating in the Black Sea.
During a series of exercises in UK waters, the frigate developed a significant electrical problem that caused a loss of power to the ship.
[24] As the frigate was docking in Belfast, a small fire began in the starboard gas turbine enclosure in the forward engine room, which was quickly extinguished by the crew.