While the show has always been a big deal for exhibitors, there’s a sense that the buzz around CANSEC might be just a little louder this year.
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Scanning the crowd at Canada’s largest defence industry trade show, Andrew Woollard sounded like a man who realizes the next few years could mark a major inflection point for his business.
“With what’s going on recently, security has become very important,” Woollard, the president of Kanata-based J-Squared Technologies, said Wednesday morning as he watched delegates mill about the jam-packed hallways of the EY Centre during the latest edition of CANSEC.
“Especially in Canada, I think we’re seeing a trend toward wanting to have a Canadian-based supply chain.”
J-Squared Technologies is one of nearly 300 exhibitors at CANSEC, which was first held in 1998 and has become an essential stop on the calendar for defence and security companies looking to sell weapons, munitions and other components to the federal government and other military contractors.
While the show has always been a big deal for exhibitors, there’s a sense that the buzz around CANSEC might be just a little louder this year.
There are 285 companies showcasing their wares at the two-event event, up from 265 a year ago. In total, more than 12,000 attendees were expected to make their way to the EY Centre to check out the latest in military equipment and technology and listen to a star-studded list of keynote speakers that included new Defence Minister David McGuinty and former U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
The rise in the number of firms and attendees at CANSEC doesn’t surprise industry leaders like Woollard.
With governments around the world pledging to boost military spending amid rising geopolitical instability, conflicts in the Ukraine and Middle East still raging, and emerging technologies such as drones becoming mainstream, Woollard said it just makes sense that his sector is seeing a burst of activity.
“CANSEC is as busy as it’s been in the last few years,” he said during a break from speaking to delegates. “I definitely think there’s an uptick … in the market right now. A lot of (military technology) programs historically can be five, 10, 15 years to go from inception to deployment.
“And I think specifically in the Ukraine war what you’re seeing is a lot of quick cycles from development into the field. I think what you’re going to see over the next five years is programs accelerate … smaller, drone-style things that can be done quickly and deployed.”
At J-Squared, business is indeed booming.
The 35-year-old firm specializes in “ruggedized hardware” designed to protect vital components such as laptops and servers from being damaged during military operations.
Headquartered in Kanata, the 100-person company also has facilities in the Greater Toronto Area and the Halifax region, serving customers ranging from the Canadian Armed Forces to the world’s biggest defence equipment manufacturers.
While most of its products are now assembled in the GTA, J-Squared is building another manufacturing plant next to its head office on Carling Avenue to keep up with surging demand. The facility, which will feature more than 20,000 square feet of production space, is expected to be completed by early 2026.
J-Squared has already been hiring at a brisk pace in recent years, adding between five and 15 new people every quarter, and Woollard expects to ramp up hiring even further once the new plant is operational.
He said he’s “very optimistic” about his business’s future, given the election of a new government on Parliament Hill that appears to be ready to ramp up military spending and do more to boost homegrown suppliers like J-Squared.
Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged during the election campaign to streamline military purchases, boost domestic research on advanced military technology and meet the NATO defence spending target of two per cent of the gross domestic product by 2030.
In his address to CANSEC delegates on Wednesday morning, McGuinty said the new Liberal government “is willing to accelerate” its plans to triple Canada’s defence spending from 2014 levels within five years.
That kind of talk from senior government leaders is exactly what entrepreneurs like Woollard have been waiting to hear.
“I think it’s very important (that) Canada reshores its supply chains and is able to produce more in-house,” he said. “Hopefully over the next four years, we see some of those things get accelerated.”
