After commissioning, "Skeena" was assigned to the Second Canadian Escort Squadron based out of Esquimalt, British Columbia. The Second Canadian Escort Squadron departed on a training cruise around the Pacific in January 1958, returning on 2 April. On 29 January 1962, "Skeena" accidentally shelled an American village in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. As one of four ships practicing their gunnery, some of the shrapnel from the ship's guns fell on Clallam Bay, Washington. The commander of the warship, Richard H. Leir, faced a court-martial for the event. He was later convicted.