"Hudson" was constructed and funded by the Canadian Department of Energy, Mines and Resources on behalf of the Canadian Oceanographic Service. The ship was built by Saint John Shipbuilding and Drydock Ltd at their shipyard in Saint John, New Brunswick with the yard number 1046. The vessel was launched on 28 March 1963 and completed in December later that year. Named for the explorer Henry Hudson the ship entered service as CSS "Hudson", in February 1964. The ship is based at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography.