The vessel 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 Ville de Québec 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.

[3] In July 1983, the federal government approved the budget for the design and construction of the first batch of six new frigates of which Ville de Québec was a part, out of twelve that were eventually built.

[4] 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.

[5] 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.

[5] 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.

[4][5] 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.

[5] 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.

[13] On 18 July 2018, Ville de Québec departed Halifax to join Canada's Operation Reassurance in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, replacing sister ship HMCS St. John's.

[16][17] In October 2018, Ville de Québec was among the Canadian ships sent to participate in the large NATO exercise Trident Juncture in the North Atlantic and Baltic Seas.

[18] The ship then deployed to the Mediterranean Sea as part of Operation Reassurance, joining Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 and visiting Israel and Croatia.

[21] In August 2020, Ville de Québec was deployed to the Arctic as part of Operation Nanook along with MV Asterix and HMCS Glace Bay from the Royal Canadian Navy and warships from the Danish, French, U.S.