The vessel's keel was laid down by Dublin Dockyard in Dublin, Ireland and the vessel was launched on 6 July 1913. Malaspina was completed in August 1913. The date on which Malaspina became a government ship differs between the sources, with Macpherson & Barrie claiming the vessel joined in 1913 and Maginley & Collin, 1914. Upon joining the government fleet, Malaspina became a fisheries patrol vessel on the West Coast of Canada. After the First World War broke out, Malaspina and sister ship Galiano alternated between naval and civic duties along the Pacific coast, being retained as part of the government fleet. This included performing examination duties at Esquimalt, British Columbia. On 1 December 1917, Malaspina was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy, detailed with the duty of intercepting contraband in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
