Fraser was laid down by Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd., Vancouver, but completed by Yarrows Ltd., Esquimalt. She served on the west coast until her conversion to helicopter-carrying destroyer configuration at Canadian Vickers Ltd., Montreal, beginning 2 July 1965. She was then based at Halifax. She demonstrated the Canadian-designed Beartrap helicopter haul-down system at Washington, D.C., in October 1967.
Fraser was refitted for Destroyer Life Extension at Canadian Vickers Ltd., between 19 October 1981 and 28 May 1982, and was thereafter something of a test vehicle. She was the first Royal Canadian Navy ship to be fitted (1986) with an experimental towed array sonar system, and was the test bed for the NIXIE torpedo decoy system and later a tactical aircraft beacon. In 1988 she was equipped to operate the HELTAS helicopter in a passive acoustic role.
Fraser was among the ships enforcing United Nations sanctions against Haiti between October 1993 and March 1994. Fraser was the last of her class to be paid off, and replaced Assiniboine in a classroom role until 18 December 1997 when she arrived at Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, to become a floating museum. She was reacquired by the Department of National Defence in 2009 for disposal and was broken up for scrap at Port Maitland, Ontario, in 2011.
