TECHNATION Statement on Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy

February 19, 2026

TECHNATION welcomes the Government of Canada’s first Defence Industrial Strategy and the significant scale of projected investment, including $180 billion in defence procurement, $290 billion in defence‑related infrastructure and capital , and a projected $125 billion in domestic economic benefit – all by 2035. These investments back-up Canada’s NATO commitments and takes steps to generate economic opportunity for Canada.  Canada’s ICT sector underpins defence capabilities and innovation across aerospace, cyber, autonomous systems and advanced communication.

The success of the DIS will not be defined by its ambition, which is admirable. Canada needs to quickly focus on driving execution through defence procurement.

Canada’s defence policies, under Strong Secure Engaged and the Defence Policy Update, outline the CAF’s capability needs. Now that the government has identified 10 capabilities to catalyze industry growth, Canada should quickly turn to streamlining procurement processes to enable force readiness at the « speed of relevance ».  This means reducing overlap between departments, streamlining approvals, driving accountability for timelines and collaborating with industry in the following ways:

• Establishing timetables for clear demand signalling to industry, so companies can prepare and make appropriate investments (e.g., industry days and 2-way engagement);
• Skills and training development on industry trends and solutions, to permit the CAF and GC to have greater access and information flow on defence innovation within domestic and parter/allied systems ;
• Further exploration into the 10 capability areas for domestic focus, to identify subsets of products, services and capabilities where Canada can be the “natural owner” for domestic sourcing as well as for exports ;
• Designing procurement vehicles (e.g. source lists and standing offers) that allow rapid-access to pre-qualified products and services.

Procurement leaders should also leverage AI and commercial technologies for category management, spend analysis, as well as for procurement and execution management, reporting and project acceleration. Canada should embrace technology and expertise to manage this ambition and drive measurable outcomes – while steering clear of narrowly defined industry policy and programs that may delay progress in building up Canada’s defense industrial base. Departmental capacity and processes must also be designed to sustain the scale and pace of the investments outlined in this strategy – currently, Canada is capacity constrained on procurement.

TECHNATION recognises the strategy’s bold vision and stands ready to work with government and industry partners to ensure that the ambitious goals outlined in this strategy lead to real, executable outcomes that strengthen Canada’s security, competitiveness and innovation leadership on the global stage.