The Groundbreakers

The Mark Carney government just announced Canada’s first Defence Industrial Strategy, designed to “strengthen security, create prosperity, and reinforce strategic autonomy.”

The Defence Industrial Strategy positions Canadian industry to take advantage of $180 billion in defence procurement opportunities and $290 billion in defence-related capital investment opportunities in Canada over the next 10 years, with an anticipated $125 billion downstream economic benefit by 2035. The Defence Industrial Strategy will create 125,000 high-paying careers, increase our defence exports by 50%, raise the share of defence acquisitions awarded to Canadian firms to 70%, and grow Canadian defence industry revenues by 240%. Within a decade, we will raise maritime fleet serviceability to 75%, land fleets to 80%, and aerospace fleets to 85% to bolster Canadian defence.

—Prime Minister of Canada

This is a game-changing move, both militarily and economically, yet there is an obvious difference between ambitious announcements and breaking ground. And there is a profound difference between money spent and money well spent.

We’re suddenly in one of those ‘get it right and win or screw it up and lose’ moments in time where emerging opportunities—including potential linkages with the European Union and members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)—are subject to compressed geopolitical timelines. With regard to defence, for example, the Defence Industrial Strategy isn’t occurring in a vacuum. Canada, European nations, Australia, New Zealand and others have all been shocked into action by virtue of shifts in American policy, war in Ukraine, and escalatory events over Taiwan.

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For all of these nations, major announcements at the national level are seismic at the local level. Even assuming that not every defence dollar, pound or Euro is up for grabs, massive opportunities remain for every community willing to put innovation at the head of its agenda. This isn’t idle speculation: the defence industry is a perfect example of massive change on every front, from communications to drones to “algorithm-first” AI defence systems.

While it may remain the case that innovative new technologies designed to protect the home front, transform the battlefield, or guard supply lines are cooked up on a limited scale with a small teams, it takes partnerships, coordination, and capitalization to truly unlock them. This is why, at the local level, innovation readiness leaps to the forefront. The extent to which a community can support defence industry innovators is critical: failure means great ideas die on on the bench or leave for greener pastures. Success means retaining and attracting talent, business, capital and all that means for jobs, quality of life and economic growth.

(read the rest on my Substack)

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