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HMCS Toronto was a that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War and as a from 1953-1956. She was named for Toronto, Ontario. She was later acquired by the Royal Norwegian Navy and renamed Garm and then again in 1965 as HNoMS Valkyrien .
Toronto was ordered 1 February 1943 as Giffard (after Giffard, Quebec) as part of the 1943-1944 River-class building program. She was laid down on 10 May 1943 by Davie Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. Ltd. at Lauzon and launched 18 September 1943.
Background
The River-class frigate was designed by William Reed of Smith's Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees. Originally called a "twin-screw corvette", its purpose was to improve on the convoy escort classes in service with the Royal Navy at the time, including the Flower-class corvette. The first orders were placed by the Royal Navy in 1940 and the vessels were named for rivers in the United Kingdom, giving name to the class. In Canada they were named for towns and cities though they kept the same designation. The name "frigate" was suggested by Vice-Admiral Percy Nelles of the Royal Canadian Navy and was adopted later that year.
Improvements over the corvette design included improved accommodation which was markedly better. The twin engines gave only three more knots of speed but extended the range of the ship to nearly double that of a corvette at at 12 knots.
thumb|left|Launch of HMCS Toronto
Following that she served with Halifax Force as a local escort until May 1945. In May she was assigned to as a training ship. Toronto was recommissioned with pennant number 319 on 26 November 1953 at Lauzon.
The frigate was made a part of the First Canadian Escort Squadron in December 1953. In April 1954, Toronto deployed to Bermuda for anti-submarine training with the British submarine and the American submarine before joining the First Canadian Escort Squadron on their training cruise through the Caribbean Sea, making several port visits. In September, the First Canadian Escort Squadron took part in the NATO naval exercise "New Broom II" and in October, the exercise "Morning Mist" before performing a two-month training cruise in the Mediterranean Sea, making several port visits. The squadron returned to Canada on 10 December 1954. Toronto was paid off by the RCN on 14 April 1956 and transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy as HNoMS Garm. Garm was purchased outright in 1959 and was employed primarily for fisheries protection duties.