Policy Brief No. 215 — November 2025
Dual-Use Technologies in the Age of Intangibles James W. Hinton
Key Points → Dual-use technologies are increasingly central to global economic resilience, innovation strategies and national defence. Canada’s current trajectory risks surrendering strategic and economic benefits if it does not prioritize investment in domestic companies that develop and commercialize dual-use technologies. → Without a shift in approach, increased defence spending will disproportionately benefit foreign firms, weakening Canada’s ability to build sovereign capacity. → Structural reforms are urgently needed to prioritize Canadian innovators in defence procurement; expand the freedom to operate for domestic firms with intellectual property (IP) frameworks that retain ownership and control of key dual-use technologies; and build sovereign compute capacity and infrastructure to secure Canadian data and algorithms.
Introduction Dual-use technology refers to technology that has both civilian and military applications. These technologies are increasingly central to national security, economic resilience and technological leadership. Dual-use technologies have become increasingly important for a nation’s economic growth and in a country’s ability to defend itself. They are critical to fostering competitiveness, resilience and crucial national defence and security, especially in the current international high-threat geopolitical environment (Chivvis and Keating 2024).1 Initially, dual-use technology focused on nuclear technologies that have well-known military uses (for example, nuclear warfare) and civilian uses (for example, nuclear energy). Today, dual-use technologies encompass a range of industries and technology areas including “artificial intelligence, advanced materials, nanotechnology,
→ Continued neglect of these areas will erode Canadian sovereignty and deepen economic dependence on countries that dominate dual-use technology. 1
See https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/research-area/ industrial-research-and-innovation/dual-use-technologies_en.