The ship's keel was laid down on 10 April 1905 for hull number 443 at Fairfield's berth number 4 next to her sister ship, , which was being built. "Empress of Ireland"s length was overall and between perpendiculars. Her beam was and her depth was . "Empress of Ireland" had twin four-bladed screws, each driven by a quadruple-expansion steam engine. Between them the two engines were rated at 3,168 NHP and gave her a service speed of . She had twin funnels and two masts.