HALIFAX -- The federal Treasury Board president says there are no changes planned to the National Shipbuilding Strategy that would compromise the role of Halifax's Irving Shipbuilding Inc.

The shipbuilding company expressed its concern this week after Quebec-based Davie Shipbuilding was given a $610 million contract to convert three icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard.

Irving and Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards were selected by Canada in 2011 as the only two partners in the strategy, and Irving was worried Davie's involvement signalled a possible shift.

But Scott Brison, a Nova Scotia MP and president of the Treasury Board of Canada, says Irving's role within the shipbuilding strategy is secure.

He says there have always been opportunities for other shipyards to work on small vessel construction, conversions, maintenance, and repairs.

Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal minister of Families, Children and Social Development, has said the Davie contract will secure up to 200 well-paying middle class jobs at the Levis, Que., shipyard for the next 24 months.