Forget the toot of a ship's horn, or the sound of wind in a boat's sails: The soundtrack for a day at CFB Esquimalt is more likely to feature the pulsing drill of jackhammers, the buzz of bulldozers and the steady whir of massive cranes.
And in many places on the base, people are more likely to be clad in grease-stained coveralls than crisp navy uniforms.
Those signs point to the base's crucial role as a multimillion-dollar economic generator in Greater Victoria. Between lucrative ship repair contracts, massive construction projects and the thousands of jobs it provides, CFB Esquimalt pumps more than half a billion dollars a year into the region's economy, according to base communications. That includes $234 million in annual military pay, $110 million in civilian pay, $71 million for supplies and services, about $80 million in construction contracts to local companies.
"The base ... is a large component of the economic well-being of this region," says base commander Capt. Marcel Hallé.
CFB Esquimalt is the third-largest employer in Greater Victoria -- after the provincial government and the Vancouver Island Health Authority -- with approximately 4,000 military and 2,000 civilian employees who depend on the navy for their livelihood.
"They have a tremendous economic impact," says Sasha Angus, economic development officer with the Greater Victoria Development Agency, who estimates the base produces an additional 1,000 indirect jobs created by the ripple effect on supporting businesses, such as ship-building companies, contractors and retail and supply shops.
Many of those additional jobs are at the Esquimalt Graving Dock in Naden, which attracts hundreds of millions of dollars in ship repair contracts. It is managed by Public Works and Government Services Canada. Private shipbuilding companies, staffed by civilians, operate from the graving dock, including Victoria Shipyards, which gets most of the Department of National Defence contracts and services many Alaska-bound cruise ships, and Esquimalt Drydock Co., which services the B.C. Ferries and many American commercial vessels.
The other, smaller dry dock on the base, located at HMC Dockyard, is where CFB Esquimalt makes repairs to its own fleet. Currently, submarine HMCS Victoria is docked there covered in scaffolding and undergoing a major refit. The dry dock is located to Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton, a collection of massive bright blue sheet metal buildings where the fleet's ships are maintained.
In 2007, Washington Marine Group's Victoria Shipyards and partner companies were awarded a five-year, $375-million contract by the Department of National Defence to maintain the Canadian military's recently acquired submarines -- HMCS Victoria and HMCS Chicoutimi. That work is expected to create more than 200 full-time jobs.
A year later, another huge DND project. Victoria Shipyards was awarded a $351-million contract to upgrade five CFB Esquimalt-based frigates. When work begins on the frigates in March 2011, it is estimated 110 new jobs will be created in addition to keeping busy the 450 existing employees.
Former Esquimalt mayor Darwin Robinson also points to the foreign money that flows into the region when cruise ships or other countries' fleets undergo repairs in the Esquimalt Graving Dock, which is the largest commercial dry dock on the West Coast, and can hold vessels up to 100,000 deadweight tons, which is 90 per cent of the world's ships.
Alaska-bound cruise ships are regularly docked there for repairs, says Malcolm Barker, Victoria Shipyards' vice-president and general manager. "Every ship that resides on the West Coast we've touched in some way, shape or form," he said. "That is brand new money coming into the country in U.S. dollars or British pounds."
The Fleet Maintenance Facility itself is also doing a booming business -- it's in the midst of a furious 25-year expansion and modernization. The Department of National Defence is focusing $266 million worth of work on the facility, which it estimates will generate 1,400 jobs. Stage four of a five-phase project will see three new buildings go up, two renovated and the dockyard's utility services upgraded.
When the entire project is complete in 2015 it will be the second-largest enclosed building on North America's West Coast, only behind the Boeing aircraft plant in Washington.
In total over the next 10 years, Hallé expects CFB Esquimalt to produce more than $1 billion worth of infrastructure work.
The Town of Esquimalt also benefits considerably from the base.
"Their economic impact on Esquimalt is huge. Huge," says Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins. "If you add DND and Dockyard, those are our significant economic drivers."
Robinson is a firm believer of this, which is why as mayor he was a strong advocate of a stronger relationship between the municipality and the navy. "The navy pays 40 per cent of Esquimalt's [property] taxes, which is huge for an industrial base."
Desjardins, too, sees the value in keeping that relationship close.
She says the town has the second- highest payments in lieu of taxes in Canada, which are grants provided to the municipality in place of property taxes by the federal government. That's second only to Halifax but she pointed out that in the east coast navy town, the payments are shared by 360,000 people whereas in Esquimalt, it's shared by 17,000.
"When DND prospers, so does Esquimalt," Desjardins says.
Robinson's wife, life-long Esquimalt resident Sherri Robinson, says she welcomes the not-uncommon sight of foreign sailors walking into local grocery stores and shops and walking out with loads of supplies, from new jeans or pots and pans. "You knew they were spending money," she says.
Angus concurs: "Each summer when the U.S. sends up one of its ships for the three or four days that they're here they spend a significant amount in our local economy."
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More Projects at the Base
Other federally funded infrastructure projects happening at CFB Esquimalt properties:
- A $1.2-million interim mental-health facility will be built at CFB Esquimalt by Shelter Industries Inc. of Aldergrove.
- A $2.3-million plan to design a new maritime helicopter facility at the Victoria airport, which will be carried out by Vancouver's Stantec Consultants Ltd.
- A $14.5-million contract was awarded to Kinetic Construction to construct the second phase of a new hazardous materials facility at CFB Esquimalt.
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CFB ESQUIMALT: OUR HIDDEN CITY
As the navy celebrates its centennial this year with the promise to "bring the navy to Canadians," the Times Colonist's Katie DeRosa and Debra Brash bring to life the people, places and objects of CFB Esquimalt.
Saturday, May 29
Welcome to the base: About the 6,000 people who work there, and what they do.
Sunday
Workers on the base: Jobs for military personnel on the base run the gamut.
Tuesday
History of the base: As with all heritage sites, ghost stories lurk around.
Wednesday
Life on the base: The base's communities pull together when loved ones are at sea.
Yesterday
Civilians on the base: About one-third of the employees on the base are civilians who work in jobs as diverse as rope-making and museum curating.
Today
Business of the base: The base pumps more than half a billion dollars a year into the region's economy.
Tomorrow
Ships at the base: CFB Esquimalt is home to the navy's Pacific fleet. Find out what life is like on the ships.
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DECODING THE DRY DOCKS
Dry dock at HMC Dockyard
This was the original dry dock built at Lang Cove after 1871, as part of a deal to secure British Columbia's entry into Confederation. At the time, the dry dock was large enough to accommodate every ship in the British Empire. But as vessels grew larger, the decision was made to build the Esquimalt Graving Dock, which is now located at Naden.
Today, the dry dock is used by CFB Esquimalt staff, mostly the civilians and military members who work in Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton, to repair their ships.
The Fleet Maintenance Facility is a huge four-storey workshop where the ships are repaired and maintained, both in the shop and the adjacent dry dock.
Almost every ship in the fleet would likely spend some time in the dry dock for routine repairs to propellers, shafts, sonar domes, under-water fitting, etc., while the Esquimalt Graving Dock only sees vessels undergoing major refit.
Esquimalt Graving Dock
at Naden
Even though you have to drive through Naden to get to the Esquimalt Graving Dock, you won't find a single military officer there. The massive graving dock is where you will find private shipbuilders from companies like Victoria Shipyards and Esquimalt Drydock Co. Built in the 1920s after the Lang Cove dockyard became too small, the Esquimalt Graving Dock is 357 metres long by 38 metres wide -- the largest commercial dry dock on the West Coast. It is managed by Public Works and Government Services Canada.
It can hold vessels up to 100,000 deadweight tonnes, 90 per cent of the world's ships.
The dock can be divided in two sections with a caisson and closed by floating caissons ballasted with concrete and sea water. The dock is filled and emptied via a tunnel on the north side, which connects to separate tunnels enabling each portion of the drydock to fill independently through culverts in the floor.
SOURCE: PUBLIC WORKS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES CANADA
