diff --git a/rclcpp/package.xml b/rclcpp/package.xml
index bf207c2..25b9b49 100644
--- a/rclcpp/package.xml
+++ b/rclcpp/package.xml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
   <test_depend>ament_lint_auto</test_depend>
   <test_depend>ament_lint_common</test_depend>
   <test_depend>mimick_vendor</test_depend>
+  <test_depend>performance_test_fixture</test_depend>
   <test_depend>rmw</test_depend>
   <test_depend>rmw_implementation_cmake</test_depend>
   <test_depend>rosidl_default_generators</test_depend>
diff --git a/rclcpp/test/CMakeLists.txt b/rclcpp/test/CMakeLists.txt
index b6e4f90..55b76fa 100644
--- a/rclcpp/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rclcpp/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ find_package(test_msgs REQUIRED)
 
 include(cmake/rclcpp_add_build_failure_test.cmake)
 
+add_subdirectory(benchmark)
 add_subdirectory(rclcpp)
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_rclcpp_gtest_macros utils/test_rclcpp_gtest_macros.cpp)
diff --git a/rclcpp/test/benchmark/CMakeLists.txt b/rclcpp/test/benchmark/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3cb9e65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rclcpp/test/benchmark/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+find_package(performance_test_fixture REQUIRED)
+
+#
+# Add a rmw-specific performance benchmark test from performance_test_fixture
+#
+# :param NAME: the target name which will also be used as the test name
+# :type NAME: string
+# :param SOURCE: the benchmark test target's source file
+# :type SOURCE: string
+# :param AMENT_DEPENDS: the ament dependincies for the benchmark test target
+# :type list of strings
+# :param LIBRARIES: the additional libraries the target needs to be linked
+#    against
+# :type list of strings
+# :param TEST_OPTIONS: arguments to pass directly to add_performance_test
+# :type list of strings
+function(add_rclcpp_benchmark NAME SOURCE)
+  set(multiValueArgs AMENT_DEPENDS LIBRARIES TEST_OPTIONS)
+  cmake_parse_arguments(
+    RCLCPP_BENCHMARK
+    ""
+    ""
+    "${multiValueArgs}"
+    "${ARGN}")
+  if(RCLCPP_BENCHMARK_UNPARSED_ARGUMENTS)
+    message(
+      FATAL_ERROR
+      "Unrecognized arguments for 'add_rclcpp_benchmark'"
+      " (${RCLCPP_BENCHMARK_UNPARSED_ARGUMENTS})")
+    return()
+  endif()
+  find_package(${rmw_implementation} REQUIRED)
+  message(STATUS "Adding ${NAME} for '${rmw_implementation}'")
+  set(rmw_implementation_env_var RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=${rmw_implementation})
+
+  set(full_benchmark_name ${NAME}${target_suffix})
+  add_performance_test(
+    ${full_benchmark_name}
+    ${SOURCE}
+    ${RCLCPP_BENCHMARK_TEST_OPTIONS}
+    ENV ${rmw_implementation_env_var})
+  if(TARGET ${full_benchmark_name})
+    if(RCLCPP_BENCHMARK_AMENT_DEPENDS)
+      ament_target_dependencies(
+        ${full_benchmark_name}
+        ${RCLCPP_BENCHMARK_AMENT_DEPENDS})
+    endif()
+    target_link_libraries(
+      ${full_benchmark_name}
+      ${PROJECT_NAME}
+      ${RCLCPP_BENCHMARK_LIBRARIES})
+  endif()
+endfunction()
+
+# Add new benchmarks inside this macro
+macro(rclcpp_benchmarks)
+  add_rclcpp_benchmark(benchmark_init_shutdown benchmark_init_shutdown.cpp)
+
+  set(SKIP_TEST "")
+  if(${rmw_implementation} MATCHES "(.*)connext(.*)")
+    set(SKIP_TEST "SKIP_TEST")
+  endif()
+  add_rclcpp_benchmark(
+    benchmark_node
+    benchmark_node.cpp
+    TEST_OPTIONS ${SKIP_TEST})
+endmacro()
+
+call_for_each_rmw_implementation(rclcpp_benchmarks)
diff --git a/rclcpp/test/benchmark/benchmark_init_shutdown.cpp b/rclcpp/test/benchmark/benchmark_init_shutdown.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c3ae8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rclcpp/test/benchmark/benchmark_init_shutdown.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+// Copyright 2020 Open Source Robotics Foundation, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#include "performance_test_fixture/performance_test_fixture.hpp"
+
+#include "rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp"
+
+using performance_test_fixture::PerformanceTest;
+
+BENCHMARK_F(PerformanceTest, rclcpp_init)(benchmark::State & state)
+{
+  // Warmup and prime caches
+  rclcpp::init(0, nullptr);
+  rclcpp::shutdown();
+
+  reset_heap_counters();
+  for (auto _ : state) {
+    rclcpp::init(0, nullptr);
+
+    state.PauseTiming();
+    rclcpp::shutdown();
+    state.ResumeTiming();
+    benchmark::ClobberMemory();
+  }
+}
+
+BENCHMARK_F(PerformanceTest, rclcpp_shutdown)(benchmark::State & state)
+{
+  // Warmup and prime caches
+  rclcpp::init(0, nullptr);
+  rclcpp::shutdown();
+
+  reset_heap_counters();
+  for (auto _ : state) {
+    state.PauseTiming();
+    rclcpp::init(0, nullptr);
+    state.ResumeTiming();
+
+    rclcpp::shutdown();
+    benchmark::ClobberMemory();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/rclcpp/test/benchmark/benchmark_node.cpp b/rclcpp/test/benchmark/benchmark_node.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f667620
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rclcpp/test/benchmark/benchmark_node.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+// Copyright 2020 Open Source Robotics Foundation, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#include <memory>
+#include <string>
+
+#include "performance_test_fixture/performance_test_fixture.hpp"
+#include "rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp"
+
+using performance_test_fixture::PerformanceTest;
+
+class NodePerformanceTest : public PerformanceTest
+{
+public:
+  void SetUp(benchmark::State & state)
+  {
+    rclcpp::init(0, nullptr);
+    performance_test_fixture::PerformanceTest::SetUp(state);
+  }
+
+  void TearDown(benchmark::State & state)
+  {
+    performance_test_fixture::PerformanceTest::TearDown(state);
+    rclcpp::shutdown();
+  }
+};
+
+BENCHMARK_F(NodePerformanceTest, create_node)(benchmark::State & state)
+{
+  // Warmup and prime caches
+  auto outer_node = std::make_shared<rclcpp::Node>("node");
+  outer_node.reset();
+
+  reset_heap_counters();
+  for (auto _ : state) {
+    // Using pointer to separate construction and destruction in timing
+    auto node = std::make_shared<rclcpp::Node>("node");
+    benchmark::DoNotOptimize(node);
+    benchmark::ClobberMemory();
+
+    // Ensure destruction of node is not counted toward timing
+    state.PauseTiming();
+    node.reset();
+    state.ResumeTiming();
+  }
+}
+
+BENCHMARK_F(NodePerformanceTest, destroy_node)(benchmark::State & state)
+{
+  // Warmup and prime caches
+  auto outer_node = std::make_shared<rclcpp::Node>("node");
+  outer_node.reset();
+
+  reset_heap_counters();
+  for (auto _ : state) {
+    // Using pointer to separate construction and destruction in timing
+    state.PauseTiming();
+    auto node = std::make_shared<rclcpp::Node>("node");
+    state.ResumeTiming();
+
+    benchmark::DoNotOptimize(node);
+    benchmark::ClobberMemory();
+
+    node.reset();
+  }
+}