A new agency aimed at speeding up the procurement and delivery of equipment to the Canadian military could open more doors for domestic defence-tech companies to sell their innovations to the armed forces and other key customers, Canada’s top soldier told an Ottawa business audience on Tuesday. During a conversation with Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe […]
Already an Insider? Log in
Get Instant Access to This Article
Become an Ottawa Business Journal Insider and get immediate access to all of our Insider-only content and much more.
- Critical Ottawa business news and analysis updated daily.
- Immediate access to all Insider-only content on our website.
- 4 issues per year of the Ottawa Business Journal magazine.
- Special bonus issues like the Ottawa Book of Lists.
- Discounted registration for OBJ’s in-person events.
A new agency aimed at speeding up the procurement and delivery of equipment to the Canadian military could open more doors for domestic defence-tech companies to sell their innovations to the armed forces and other key customers, Canada’s top soldier told an Ottawa business audience on Tuesday.
During a conversation with Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe at City Hall, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan said the new Defence Investment Agency announced by the prime minister’s office earlier this month will create new opportunities for Canadian businesses that specialize in emerging military technologies.
“We can’t be sovereign in everything, but we can definitely invest in things where we are quite well (equipped) in Canada,” Carignan said, citing drones, quantum computing, artificial intelligence and electronic warfare technology such as sensors as areas where homegrown companies have proven their ingenuity.
“There’s a lot of good Canadian capability at the moment that we could keep investing in.”
In a wide-ranging 30-minute chat with Sutcliffe during the Mayor’s Breakfast event, Canada’s first female chief of defence staff said the Canadian military needs to “fundamentally change” the way it’s structured in order to respond to rising geopolitical instability and growing threats to national sovereignty in the North.
“We have to equip ourselves differently,” said Carignan, a graduate of Royal Military College who was appointed Canada’s top soldier in July 2024. “We have to train our defence posture differently. Our geography does not protect us as well as it used to, considering the technological developments and intent of our adversaries.”
Canada’s current military procurement systems “have been built for a peacetime pace,” Carignan explained. RFPs often take years to wind their way through a complex vetting process that’s bogged down in layers of red tape and back-and-forth between government and industry, she said.
The new agency’s goal is to remove barriers such as duplicative approvals and provide more clarity on the government’s defence spending plans. Carignan also pointed to the federal government’s forthcoming Defence Industrial Strategy, which aims to reduce Canada’s dependence on foreign military technology, as another potential catalyst for growth in the domestic defence-tech sector.
“We need to be a lot more dynamic,” she said, later adding that “the idea is to bring industry earlier in the process so that innovation and development can happen on the spot. The availability of more options for the government is really what we are looking for.”
Calian Group CEO Kevin Ford, whose Ottawa-based firm generates more revenues from defence clients such as the Canadian Armed Forces than any other customer segment, said the federal government’s stated commitments to boost military spending, streamline procurement processes and seek more domestic sources of technology are exactly what his industry is looking for.
“That’s music to my ears,” he told OBJ after the event. “From a business perspective, let’s support it and get at it. We’re excited about that.
“We have an incredible industrial base here in Ottawa. All of us are buzzing right now with regard to, let’s see the industrial policy, let’s see the budget on Nov. 4 and then sit back and look at, working with our staff, our board, our partners, saying, ‘Where can we lean in?’
“Whether it’s AI or quantum or sovereign capability across electronic warfare. That’s what we’re looking for is a bit more feedback on where we can invest as a Canadian industry, an Ottawa industry, and accelerate our capability development in support of the mission that the military is trying to do.”
