The Canadian vessels will be a variant of the Berlin class, built at Seaspan's yard in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

[15] In order to speed construction of the Protecteur-class naval auxiliaries, the delivery of the first of the new class of polar icebreakers, CCGS Arpatuuq, will be delayed until at least 2030.

[24] The actual capabilities have been listed as being able to carry 64 twenty-foot equivalent units of shipping containers, which can be used to store food, water, vehicles, and other specialized equipment to support land or sea-based operations, including humanitarian aid or disaster relief.

Additionally, these containers can house special mission fit cargo, such as mobile hospitals and portable communication centers, which could be offloaded or airlifted ashore.

Two design finalists were selected in November 2006: ThyssenKrupp and SNC-Lavalin ProFac with the ships built in either Marystown, Newfoundland or North Vancouver, British Columbia, respectively.

In January 2007, Canadian media reported that defence planners were considering the retirement of the existing Protecteur-class ships by 2010, prior to the delivery of the first replacement vessels in 2012.

[29] On 22 August 2008, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Christian Paradis terminated two procurement processes involving the shipbuilding industry.

In December 2008, RCN officers and defence analysts hoped Budget 2009 would have up to $500 million in extra funding for the Joint Support Ship Project so that it could be completed.

However, there was no extra money for the Joint Support Ship Project and the stimulus package did not address MARCOM's vessel procurement programs.

Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden, Chief of the Maritime Staff, said that he was ready to submit design and cost estimates to the government and to the Minister of National Defence.

[32] In June 2010, the Government of Canada announced that the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) would spend CA$35 billion over the next 30 years to purchase 28 new large ships and 116 small vessels for Maritime Command and the Canadian Coast Guard.

In July 2010, Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced an initial purchase of two joint support ships (at a cost of $2.6 billion) with options for a third.

On 11 October 2013, the NSPS Secretariat announced that Vancouver Shipyards would commence construction on the joint support ships, followed by the Polar Icebreaker.