Under the exemption, the trio were allowed to travel to the United States for work.

The contract, awarded as part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, can be extended up to 22 years for a total of up to $552 million. 

Irving Shipbuilding says the decision impacts 1,100 of the 1,800 workers at its locations in the HRM.

Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan was in Shelburne, N.S., Monday to say the government will be funding repair work on the Canadian Coast Guard ship Edward Cornwallis, supporting 55 jobs at the Irving-owned Shelburne Ship Repair.

The shipyard is on track to win potentially billions of dollars in federal work.

Irving Shipbuilding released a statement Tuesday saying the new ship, HMCS Harry DeWolf, will be delivered during the first three months of 2020.

There are more than 17,000 pipe assemblies in a single Arctic and offshore patrol vessel. 

According to the government, the initial five-year contract guarantees a minimum of three frigates for the shipyard with work planned to begin in the early 2020s.

In November 2018, CCGS Corporal McLaren was cut from its moorings at a dockyard in Sambro, N.S., where it was meant to be undergoing a month-long refit.

No deal will be signed with a shipyard before the election, officials say.