Known as AJISS, the contract includes an initial service period of eight years for up to $800 million CAD with options to extend services up to 35 years, for a total value of $5.2 billion CAD, making it the largest ISS contract in Canadian history.

With over 16 years of performance-based ISS experience with the Royal Australian Navy in a relational contracting model, Thales will also transfer knowledge of existing and innovative ISS-ready solutions from Australia to Canada.

Since 1989, Thales has managed, maintained and upgraded the Commonwealth's naval assets with assistance from the Australian government, the Royal Australian Navy and industry, at one of the most important ship repair facilities in the Southern Hemisphere, the Garden Island Naval Base in Sydney.

Thales said its proven and award-winning ship service and maintenance model has consistently exceeded material readiness requirements and exceeded operational availability targets by as much as 30 per cent.  

Thales has also provided ISS to navies in Singapore, New Zealand, USA, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Papua and New Guinea, and Tonga.

Recently, Thales Australia was recently tapped to deliver and support the Australian Navy's mine countermeasures (MCM), with the government granting first pass approval to extend the service life for the Navy’s Huon Class Mine Hunter Coastal vessels.