Future of Defence
Stephen Fuhr on Building Canada’s Defence Future
Canada’s Secretary of State for Defence Procurement outlines how the new Defence Industrial Strategy will build sovereign capability and position Canada's defence landscape for long-term growth.
How is Canada’s new Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) designed to strengthen Canada’s national security and sovereignty?
Canada's security depends on our ability to develop and sustain core defence capabilities within our own borders. The DIS identifies sovereign capabilities where Canada must develop expertise to maintain strategic autonomy and reduce dependencies. Along with the new Build Partner Buy framework, the DIS will grow Canada's defence industrial base, drive innovation, and create more resilient supply chains.
How will the DIS and DIA better enable Canadian companies to compete, scale, and contribute more effectively to our defence ecosystem?
Canadian industry, and especially small medium sized enterprises have historically struggled to navigate the fragmented procurement system. The Defence Investment Agency is cutting red tape, streamlining processes, and resetting the government’s relationship with industry. With new capital pathways
How should Canada be thinking about building and retaining the workforce required for long-term defence resilience?
To build a robust defence workforce for the future, the DIS is advancing a Defence Skills Agenda focused on strengthening industry talent pipelines, investing in urgent skills needs, expanding the skilled labour supply. By giving industry clearer demand signals through procurement and prioritizing Canadian capabilities, we will provide the predictability companies need to scale-up and create 125,000 good paying jobs.
As the Defence Investment Agency continues to evolve, what is its direction and mandate moving forward and how will it support Canada’s broader defence priorities?
The Defence Investment Agency will serve as the key enabler for achieving the targets outlined in the DIS. By applying the new Build Partner Buy framework to increase the share of contracts awarded to Canadian
How AI Is Improving National Defence and Security
Artificial intelligence is transforming the defence space, enabling new operational capabilities to protect and defend Canada and Canadians more efficiently and safely.
There’s an important concept called technological sovereignty, which refers to a nation’s ability to independently develop and control critical technologies such as AI and data infrastructure for economic prosperity and security. To achieve this, Canada is strengthening domestic innovation and establishing robust supply chains that rely on Canadian expertise. Several small Canadian tech companies and startups are already taking technologies proven in the civilian marketplace and adapting them for the defence space.
TerraSense Analytics is a small British Columbia-based tech company. We sat down with its founder and CEO, Jozsef Hamari, and Cornell Pich, Vice-President of Business Development, to talk about how it’s playing a critical role in the military’s adoption of AI.
How is AI reshaping the defence industry?
This technology has the opportunity to change the nature of warfare. AI is already helping the military do its job better, with greater precision, which helps bring our men and women in uniform home safely. The technology is evolving quickly, and those who aren’t using these digital tools will fall behind competitors and potential adversaries.
What challenge does the military face that your solution can help solve?
It’s about the data. Every time they buy a drone or aircraft with new cameras and sensors, they’re adding more and more raw data to the network, but there aren’t enough human resources to process it all and turn it into usable information. That’s where we can leverage the power of AI. We’re now working with the Australian military to develop a ground-to-ground
system for autonomous vehicles, which is a complex challenge.
What is the TerraSense advantage?
Building on the success of our work leveraging AI in forestry and natural resources, we transitioned into a fully defence tech company. Our software is designed to support the Canadian military, NATO, and our Five Eyes allies. We’re partners with the military, building the features and functions they need. Our solution is multi-domain, which means we can fuse together electro-optical (EO), infrared, and radar capabilities to provide increased certainty in identifying a target. No other system utilizes all three.
How important is the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy?
It allows us to partner and co-develop with some of the large prime defence contractors. This is important for small- and medium-sized Canadian tech companies and startups, because
on their own they wouldn’t be able to secure billion-dollar military contracts. By showing the defence primes we can innovate and move with them, we’ve been able to grow our business, not only in Canada, but internationally.
AI is now in a position to help the military enhance their job effectiveness, with greater precision and accelerated decision-making which will help bring our men and women in uniform home safely.
Why do we need to continue investing in AI?
It’s critical, because AI will touch every piece of military infrastructure. If we don’t invest, we lose the opportunity as a nation to be at the forefront. We have the know-how in Canada, and the expertise in our universities. I hope we can be an inspiration for other small Canadian tech companies, because continuing to build this ecosystem is important. It has positive spillover effects for defence tech AI startups in Canada.
Donohue
WRITTEN BY Ken
How Canada Is Building Its Very Own Path to Orbit
Canada expands its defence strategy to include sovereign launch capability and Spaceport Nova Scotia is getting ready to launch.
The race for space is no longer about exploration but about defence, security, and technological autonomy.
As countries increasingly rely on satellite systems for secure communications, intelligence gathering, surveillance, and missile detection, Canada is positioning itself to strengthen its sovereign access to space.
The Government of Canada has recently selected Spaceport Nova Scotia as a dedicated sovereign launch site for national defence missions.
In Budget 2025–2026, the federal government reaffirmed its commitment to NATO defence spending targets, pledging to increase defence spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035. The budget also allocates $182.6 million
over the next three years to establish domestic orbital launch capability.
Even before this announcement, however, a Canadian company had already begun building the infrastructure needed to support that goal.
In 2022, Maritime Launch Services (MLS) broke ground on Spaceport Nova Scotia, now officially positioned as a cornerstone of Canada’s national defence space strategy on the country’s eastern coast.
From satellites to sovereignty For Stephen Matier, President and CEO of MLS, sovereign access to space is increasingly important for national self-sufficiency. “Sovereignty in space means Canada is able to access space independently rather than relying on foreign launch pro -
viders and sites,” he says.
Spaceport Nova Scotia is designed to provide that domestic launch option while also serving international customers. “This capability allows Canada to deploy satellites more rapidly and securely and contributes to NATO’s space capabilities in the North Atlantic region,” says Matier.
Globally, orbital launch sites remain relatively rare, with many built decades ago. “Spaceport Nova Scotia represents a new generation of launch infrastructure designed for modern commercial and defence missions,” says Matier.
The facility marks a historic milestone — giving Canada its first commercial spaceport.
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Janice Tober
How CCC Is Helping Canadians Win
As Canada’s G2G contracting agency, CCC uses its international contracting expertise to enable Canadian companies to negotiate successful commercial agreements with foreign government buyers.
To attract foreign governments to buy from Canada, this G2G approach backs qualified Canadian suppliers with a Government of Canada assurance of contract performance. It both reduces procurement risk and strengthens bilateral relationships.
“Canada’s prosperity and security depend on our ability to engage trusted partners around the world,” says The Honourable Maninder Sidhu, Canada’s Minister of International Trade. “Trade diversification starts with collaboration, and the CCC plays a vital role in helping Canadian companies reach more markets while advancing Canada’s trade, defence, and security objectives.”
Exports: A key part of Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy Canada’s defence industry relies on exports for long-term economic viability. In recent reporting, the industry generated over CAD $14 billion in annual revenue, roughly half of which was from exports.
CCC’s proven G2G contracting approach is well aligned to support the export objectives of Canada’s new Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS).
“Canada’s DIS is fundamentally about strengthening our sovereignty — ensuring our nation has dependable access to the defence and security capabilities it needs, while fostering a globally competitive domestic industrial base,” says
Through G2G contracting, CCC helps Canadian companies compete internationally while advancing Canada’s trade, defence, and security objectives.
Bobby Kwon, President and CEO of CCC. “CCC plays a critical enabling role in this vision. We help translate Canadian defence investment and innovation into trusted international partnerships and high value exports. Through our G2G contracts, we not only open doors for Canadian industry — we reinforce the security, resilience, and interoperability of Canada and our allies.”
Building trust and confidence with international partners
This played out recently through a $1B CCC-enabled G2G contract for Lockheed Martin Canada to supply new combat management systems to the German Navy. The innovative solution, developed for the Royal Canadian Navy, was sold to Germany through a G2G contract.
This marked an important milestone in Canada’s renewed defence and security relationship with Germany, building on the Canada-EU Security and Defence Partnership, and will help unlock new opportunities for Canadian companies in Germany and the European Union.
“CCC’s G2G expertise helps Canadian innovation reach global partners — expanding trade opportunities for our skilled workforce at home. For complex defence procurements like this one, the assurance in contract performance and delivery is critical for our international customers,” says Kristen Leroux, VP and Regional Executive at Lockheed Martin Canada.
“It also provides us, as a Canadian exporter, with a clear and reliable framework to deliver our solution internationally and to compete successfully on a global stage.”
WRITTEN BY Tania Amardeil
Satellites underpin modern defence and national resilience. They enable intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, secure communications, navigation and timing, and support operations across vast geographies, particularly in the Arctic.
But for Canada, there is a strategic vulnerability at the heart of this reality: every Canadian satellite used for defence, intelligence, or communications must be launched by a foreign provider. In practical terms, that means Canada does not fully control when, how, or under what conditions critical space capabilities can be deployed or replaced.
In a more stable geopolitical environment, this dependence may have seemed manageable. Today, in an era of strategic competition and rising instability, it represents a risk. If Canada cannot place or reconstitute satellites on its own timeline, it cannot fully control its ability to observe, communicate, or coordinate when
timing matters most. That weakens deterrence and creates exposure to delays, disruption, or external constraints beyond Canada’s control.
Why the Arctic matters
The implications are particularly significant in the Arctic. Canada’s northern regions rely heavily on space-based systems for surveillance, communications, navigation, and environmental monitoring. As activity and geopolitical competition increase in the Arctic, resilient satellite infrastructure will become even more important for maintaining awareness across Canada’s vast northern territory. These challenges are increasingly reflected in defence initiatives aimed at strengthening northern awareness and continental defence, including ongoing efforts to modernize NORAD and reinforce NATO’s northern and Arctic security posture.
Closing this gap is not simply about launching rockets. It requires treating access to space as essential
defence infrastructure and prioritizing a capability that is operationally decisive: responsive launch.
Responsive launch means the ability to deploy on rapid timelines from dispersed locations with minimal ground infrastructure. It strengthens resilience by shortening recovery times after disruption, strengthens readiness by enabling rapid deployment during crises, and strengthens sovereignty by ensuring Canadian decisions are not constrained by foreign actors or policies.
If Canada cannot place or reconstitute satellites on its own timeline, it cannot fully control its ability to observe, communicate, or coordinate when timing matters most.
hybrid propulsion technology. This approach is designed to be safe and significantly more cost-effective than traditional systems while supporting stockpile-friendly and forward-deployable operations.
Importantly, the benefits extend beyond defence. The same responsive launch architecture can support wildfire monitoring, climate science, Arctic surveillance, and resilient telecommunications. Defence investment can therefore deliver dual-use value while strengthening Canada’s space industry and workforce.
A Canadian containerized responsive launch solution
Reaction Dynamics is building a Canadian, ITAR-free responsive launch capability designed for this mission.
The Montréal-based company is developing a mobile, tactically deployable launch system based on proprietary
Canada already has the talent, geography, and industrial capability to lead in this domain. The next step is aligning policy, procurement, and industrial ambition to enable sovereign, responsive access to space — on Canada’s timeline, from Canadian territory.
Canadian Talent and Sovereign Technology Are Already Powering Defence Innovation
Canada’s defence future is being shaped today by homegrown talent, sovereign innovation, and industry partnerships delivering capability at speed and scale.
The Government is embracing the heightened importance of defence and defence capabilities through its new Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS). Its emphasis on sovereignty, rapid innovation and long-term economic growth aligns with the goals that Canada’s defence industrial base has been delivering against for decades.
To move forward at pace, public and private sectors must stay aligned on objectives. When goals drift out of sync, misalignment slows procurement progress and makes achieving shared outcomes more challenging. Procurement processes exist for good reasons — fairness and accountability — but the pace of technology means we must find ways to get new innovation into the hands of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) faster. Industry can innovate and produce capability faster than it can currently be procured. And in cases such as C5ISR, “off-the-shelf” rarely means “ready-to-use” — integration is an essential ingredient to delivering C5ISR capability.
Canada’s systems integrator and C5ISR strategic partner
Canada already has the capability to move faster and integrate defence technology in real time.
General Dynamics Mission Systems–Canada (GDMS-Canada) are experts in systems integration and have been a C5ISR strategic partner for over 30 years. They provide engineering credibility, operational
expertise, and sovereign control while allowing CAF users to test solutions and deliver immediate feedback that drives rapid product improvement, substantially reducing procurement risks.
Through initiatives like the GDMS-Canada Battle Lab, SMEs across the supply chain can rapidly develop and insert new technologies into CAF operations at home and abroad. Partnership between government, industry, and soldiers offers the ability to experiment early, contract quickly, and deliver capability in months — not years.
Whilst the DIS supports this model by enabling close collaboration, critical to our collective success will be the implementation of rapid procurement, by leveraging strategic partnerships, allowing innovation led by experienced defence firms, integrating their broad Canadian supply chains.
Industrial capacity: A Canadian success story
Central to the DIS: strengthening sovereign innovation & protecting Canadian intellectual property.
Canada has the talent, technology and industrial capacity to deliver. GDMS-Canada has been investing and operating in Canada for close to 80 years. Recently — incentivized by Canada’s Offset policies — more than $5.5 billion in value for Canada’s defence industrial base has been generated while sustaining mission-critical sovereign capabilities for the CAF. Today that capability is
embedded across Canada’s military platforms.
Virtually every operational RCAF maritime surveillance aircraft and every operational RCN ship rely on anti-submarine warfare (ASW) technologies they design and build in Halifax, Nova Scotia. GDMS-Canada engineers in Calgary, Alberta and Ottawa, Ontario develop and evolve advanced C5ISR for the Canadian Army. In Sherbrooke, Quebec, engineers build Uncrewed Vehicles (UXVs) and mission systems for defence operations.
Growing Canada’s SME ecosystem
A resilient defence industrial base depends on a strong national supply chain. Between 2018 and 2025, GDMS-Canada contributed more than $3.84 billion in value to Canada’s defence industrial base through programs supporting Land C5ISR capability alone, including over 70 SMEs.
They partner with over 250 companies, academia, think tanks and research institutions like DRDC ensuring innovation moves quickly
from concept to operational capability.
Increasing export potential Canadian defence innovation is increasingly contributing to global security through exports and allied partnerships. Canadian-developed and world-renowned ASW systems are now in service with over 15 allies from the Netherlands to Colombia. In Latvia, GDMS-Canada employees — Missions Specialists — work alongside the Canadian Army on Operation REASSURANCE, deploying advanced C5ISR capabilities with the multinational brigade. The company supplies tactical communications and information systems on the ASCOD vehicles, helping NATO forces on the alliance’s eastern flank to operate securely.
This is how Canadian capability developed for the CAF can scale globally.
Enhancing skills training & keeping high-value jobs in Canada
None of this capability exists without highly skilled people. Under fully Canadian leadership, there are over 1,200 GDMS-Canada employees in Ottawa, Calgary, Halifax and Sherbrooke — including over 700 high-value engineering roles — who design, test and produce mission systems used by the CAF and allied militaries worldwide. 400,000 square feet of office, laboratory and manufacturing space enables IP and deep technical expertise to remain in Canada.
Partnerships with universities, co-op programs, and graduate recruitment initiatives help the next generation of Canadian engineers and technicians remain in Canada building careers in defence technology.
Delivering on the Defence Industrial Strategy
The DIS sets an ambitious course for Canada’s security and economic future. What matters now is execution — finding innovative procurement approaches that enable experienced Canadian defence firms to deliver and iterate technologies faster for rapid implementation and deployment. GDMS-Canada is ready to help, having invested billions of dollars in Canada to establish the skills, technologies and infrastructure Canada needs to deliver tomorrow’s technologies today.
Joel Houde Vice President and General Manager, General Dynamics Mission Systems–International
How the Global F-35 Program Strengthens Canada’s Defence
Industry
Canada’s participation in the global F-35 program strengthens the economy, enhances national security, and advances defence leadership.
Canada joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in 2002. A s one of eight original partner nations, Canada contributes to the design, manufacturing, and long-term sustainment of F-35s — 5th Generation fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin and more than 2,100 global suppliers
Over 110 Canadian companies have contributed to the F-35 supply chain, with each jet in the current global fleet of around 1,300 aircraft containing approximately $3.2 million in Canadian components.
Canada approved the purchase of 88 CF-35A fighter jets through the Future Fighter Capability Project in 2023. The first CF-35 will be delivered this year, contributing to North
American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and NATO defence.
Lockheed Martin Canada has been Canada’s trusted defence partner for over 85 years. “During a time of transformation, anchored by Canada’s new Defence Industrial Strategy, our 1,000-strong Lockheed Martin Canada employees, together with our valued supply chain and technology partners from coast to coast to coast, are energized by Canada’s call to strengthen security, create prosperity, and reinforce our strategic autonomy,” says Kristen Leroux, Regional Executive for Lockheed Martin Canada. “We’re invested in the values of sovereignty
and to protecting and upholding our commitments to allies.”
Canadian engineering talent and technical expertise
Approximately 30 Canadian suppliers are actively embedded in the global F-35 supply chain today, contributing engineering and technical expertise to the international production program. Behind every F-35 is a Canadian company, contributing to national security while supporting economic development.
For employees at Canadian aerospace firm Aversan, supporting the F-35 global program was a generational opportunity: “Participating in the F-35 program was a professionally enriching experience for the Aversan team, combining Canadian engineering talent with one of the most advanced defence platforms in history and pushing us to achieve new levels of technical excellence,”
Behind every F-35 is a Canadian company, contributing to national security while supporting economic development.
says Danny Dias, Director of Business Development at Aversan.
“Our work on the F-35 program carried a profound sense of national pride, knowing that Canadian engineering excellence was contributing to one of the world’s most advanced defence capabilities,” says Nathan Nandhakumaran, COO at Aversan.
“This program not only strengthened Canada’s role on the global stage but also served as a catalyst for our company’s technical expansion, workforce development, and long-term strategic advancement.”
Strengthening Canada’s aerospace industry
Participation in the global F-35 program has created significant economic value for Canada’s aerospace and defence sector. The program is projected to produce over $15.5 billion in industrial value, offering stability and growth opportunities for Can-
adian aerospace companies while supporting workforce development and supply chain resilience.
“In the last few years, the aerospace industry has been subjected to many different challenges, most notably volatility in both product demand and supply chains,” says Craig Levia, Director of Manufacturing at Gastops, a Canadian aerospace technology firm. “The F-35 program has been steady and stable throughout its duration, which has not only enabled Gastops to better navigate these recent challenges, but to grow and mature as an aerospace supplier.”
“Long-term partnerships like the one we have with Lockheed Martin bring new opportunities and job security for employees,” says Kevin Russell, Vice-President and General Manager at ASCO Aerospace Canada, a specialized aerospace manufacturer. “The stability of the defence market helps offset the more volatile commercial market.”
Future innovation and defence
leadership
Canada’s involvement in the F-35 program today positions the country for greater defence and aerospace innovation and leadership in the future. With Canadian companies already helping to shape future defence systems, both their capabilities and capacity are set to continue growing.
“The F-35 program has provided our company with stability in pro -
duction demand and the opportunity to develop new capabilities to support a truly cutting-edge platform,”
Participating in the F-35 program was a professionally enriching experience, combining Canadian engineering talent with one of the most advanced defence platforms in history and pushing us to achieve new levels of technical excellence.
says Michael Iacovelli, CEO at Ben Machine, a Canadian aerospace and defence welding provider.
Ottawa-based Gastops has experienced similar benefits, “the success of the F-35 program globally, and our inclusion as a critical technology on the aircraft, has enabled Gastops to grow our leadership within the global community of intelligent condition monitoring,” says Shaun Horning, President and CEO at Gastops. “Being a supplier to the F-35 gives Gastops instant credibility in the aerospace industry, and it opens doors for us that otherwise might not be open.”
WRITTEN BY Tania Amardeil
