Calian Group is aiming to close more acquisitions this year to capitalize on opportunities in North America and Europe for defence, space and health-care technology. During a conference call with analysts Thursday to discuss the company’s third-quarter results, acting chief financial officer Will Majic said Calian has spent tens of millions of dollars on M&A […]
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Calian Group is aiming to close more acquisitions this year to capitalize on opportunities in North America and Europe for defence, space and health-care technology.
During a conference call with analysts Thursday to discuss the company’s third-quarter results, acting chief financial officer Will Majic said Calian has spent tens of millions of dollars on M&A activity already in fiscal 2026 and is pursuing more deals with “great urgency.”
Majic said Calian’s latest acquisition, the $24-million purchase of Mississauga-based satellite services firm Galaxy Broadband Communications, is expected to close in the coming weeks, adding the firm is “optimistic” more M&A announcements will follow before the year is out.
“Our pipeline remains robust, with multiple active discussions underway and some in advanced stages,” he said. “M&A remains our highest capital-deployment priority.”
Calian has generated double-digit revenue growth for much of the past decade, with acquisitions accounting for a big chunk of those gains under an aggressive M&A approach spearheaded by former CEO Kevin Ford.
Since Ford retired at the end of 2025, new chief executive Patrick Houston — who helped steer many of Calian’s acquisitions to the finish line as the firm’s CFO — is picking up where his former boss left off.
While Calian is projecting organic growth to remain in the mid-single digits percentage-wise for the foreseeable future, the firm is forecasting overall revenue growth in the mid-teens as it brings more new companies into the fold.
“We are continuously looking for assets that will complement the capabilities we have today and allow us to go after larger opportunities,” Houston said on Thursday’s call. “I think in this market right now, scale will be rewarded … We’re optimistic that we can not only continue the M&A pace that we’ve been doing, but even accelerate it here in the coming years so that we can build more scale and take advantage of the opportunity ahead of us.”
Houston made the remarks after Calian reported record revenues of $230 million for the three-month period ending June 30, a 20 per cent increase over the previous year. The firm posted a net profit of $5.9 million, or 51 cents per diluted share, compared with $590,000, or five cents per diluted share, in the same period a year ago.
Calian’s adjusted EBITDA rose 35 per cent year-over-year to $26 million as the company’s margins continued to increase. And with defence spending booming across North America and Europe, Calian has an order backlog of nearly $1.6 billion and is on track to book more than $1 billion in new contracts for the second year in a row.
Earlier this week, the firm announced its U.K. subsidiary signed a new 15-year agreement to supply training services to the British Army once its current deal expires at the end of September.
The contract is slated to be worth nearly $300 million plus an additional “variable component” that could double its value, Houston said, adding the deal is a “strong validation of the trust our defence partners place in Calian’s expertise.”
Building its defence customer base across the Atlantic will be a major priority for Calian in the years ahead as NATO countries beef up their military arsenals amid ongoing geopolitical turmoil in the Ukraine and the Middle East, the CEO explained.
“Certainly we’re building on momentum there and certainly the defence spending pace that we’ve seen in Europe, I don’t think is going to slow down in the next couple of years,” Houston said. “We’re trying to position ourselves to respond to that.”
Here at home, Houston said he’s optimistic that the federal government’s efforts to cut red tape and make defence contracts easier to procure for Canadian companies through organizations such as the new Defence Investment Agency will soon bear fruit.
“I think that's a positive signal,” he said of the DIA, which was launched last October. “I think (federal officials) are trying to streamline the ability of policy to turn into industry engagement and procurement. There are lots of changes there, but I think they are positive.”
Calian’s two main business lines — defence and space, and essential industries — both grew their revenues by 20 per cent in the third quarter.
The essential industries division, which includes health care, IT and cybersecurity services, picked up after a slow start to 2026 thanks largely to rising sales from commercial customers in the U.S.
Houston said the federal government’s plans to boost hiring at the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency should provide a “durable long-term tailwind” for Calian, which provides primary care, health support and psychological services to both organizations.
In addition, the feds’ plan to build up to 10 more nuclear reactors over the next 15 years represents “a potentially transformative long-term opportunity” for the company, he said. Calian offers a range of nuclear services, from radiation protection programs to waste management at reactor sites.
Meanwhile, the company is looking at ways to become more efficient. Last month, Calian created an employee group that will examine how artificial intelligence tools and other technologies can make workers more productive.
“That’s going to be a big focus for us going into next year,” Majic said.
The markets responded favourably to Calian’s latest earnings report. The company’s shares were up nearly nine per cent to $92.94 in late-afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
