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Private company

Collingwood Shipbuilding

Canadian shipbuilding company (1882–1986)

Collingwood Shipbuilding was a major Canadian shipbuilder of the late 19th and 20th centuries. The facility was located in the Great Lakes and saw its business peak during the Second World War. The shipyard primarily constructed lake freighters for service on the Great Lakes, but also constructed warships during the Second World War and government ships postwar.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1882Founded1
  • Industryshipbuilding1
  • HeadquartersCollingwood1

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Collingwood Shipbuilding was a major Canadian shipbuilder of the late 19th and 20th centuries. The facility was located in the Great Lakes and saw its business peak during the Second World War. The shipyard primarily constructed lake freighters for service on the Great Lakes, but also constructed warships during the Second World War and government ships postwar. The shipyard was closed permanently in 1986 and the land was redeveloped into a new housing community.2

The story

Formed in 1882 as Collingwood Dry Dock, Shipbuilding and Foundry Company in Collingwood, Ontario by J. D. Silcox (also contractor at the Murray Canal) and S. D. Andrews and renamed with the shortened name in 1892, Collingwood Shipbuilding's core business was building lake freighters, ships built to fit the narrow locks between the Great Lakes.

Over the company's lifetime it built over 200 ships. During the Second World War (1940–1944), the company was contracted to build 23 warships for the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Navy, mostly corvettes and minesweepers.

The shipyard was acquired by Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) in 1945. Business slowed in the 1970s and by the 1980s orders were in severe decline. The shipyard closed following the merger of CSL's shipbuilding interest with Upper Lakes Shipping to form Canadian Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited in 1986. The last ship completed and launched by the shipyard was CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier for the Canadian Coast Guard. The company folded in 1986.

From Wikipedia’s article on Collingwood Shipbuilding, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

  • lake freighter

Listed on Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded by Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering, Ltd.1

Timeline

  1. 1986Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1882Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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