In 1907 and 1908, the Dominion Line began construction of two almost identical liners – Alberta and Albany (they were intended to meet competition from the Allan Line and Canadian Pacific). The former was fitted with the engine configuration that White Star was considering for their Olympic Class vessels (three propellers - two triple expansion engines drove port and starboard screws and used their excess steam to turn a central turbine engine which powered the centre screw). Albany was fitted with just two propellers that were driven by a couple of conventional expansion engines.

At the time the ships were launched, they had already been bought by WS to be used on the White Star-Dominion joint service to Canada. Alberta was renamed Laurentic and Albany was renamed Megantic. WS  were able to compare the relative speeds and running costs of the two vessels and incorporate the data and their conclusions into the design of the Olympic Class.

Laurentic proved to be able to comfortably maintain an average of 17 knots (a speed more or less matched by Megantic) but she was cheaper to run than her counterpart.

On 25th January, 1917 sailing from Liverpool to Halifax, the armed merchant cruiser Laurentic I (under the command of Capt. Reginald Norton, R. N.) hit two mines laid by U 80 and sank in 125 feet of water off Lough Swilley. All of the crew who survive the mine explosions were evacuated before the ship went down, but many died of exposure after safely entering lifeboats; all told, 354 of the 475 on board perished.

This was Laurentic's only sailing after the accidental on-board death of her prior White Star captain, John Mathias.

£5 million in gold, intened to pay for Canadian munitions was on board. Between 1919 and 1924, all but 25 out of the 3211 gold bars were recovered.