Why Canada calls its Type 26 a destroyer

Why does Canada call its Type 26-derived ship a destroyer while Australia calls its version a frigate?

Canada's fit, general-purpose role, and naming tradition support the destroyer label, while the Australian and British ships are more explicitly ASW-oriented frigates.

British and Australian Type 26 variants are described as frigates because anti-submarine warfare is central to their role. Canada's larger and more general-purpose combatant fits its own tradition of calling general-purpose and air-warfare escorts destroyers. The name also marks a clear break from the Halifax-class frigates and recalls earlier Canadian Tribal-class destroyers. The discussion treats modern frigates and destroyers as overlapping cruiser-like escorts whose labels remain nationally contingent.