The past decade was a tough one for the Canadian shipbuilding market. It was a decade that produced a decline of both employment and decline of newbuilds, many of which were contracted in the late 1980s still awaiting construction. This unfinished business was concentrated mostly on various military projects that had been thought out but were never actually followed through. It is estimated that by the time the 1990's came to a close that Canadian yards had experienced the worst decade since postwar times with total sales declining by about 50 percent since 1991. In addition, total employment in the industry has broken off by about 50 percent from 12,000 workers in 1990 to today's figure of 5,000.