How Allied Collaboration Can Turn Canada’s Defence Investment Into Long-Term Opportunity

Canada is entering a new era of defence investment with spending levels not seen since the Second World War. It is, effectively, the biggest shift for Canada’s defence industry in recent history. New contract announcements, government-to-government agreements, and funding deals are seemingly being announced almost every day.

But it is with good reason. Anchored by Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy, new NATO defence spending commitments and a procurement framework built around  “Build, Partner, Buy,” pillars, our country is faced with a rare opportunity: provide the Canadian Armed Forces with the resources and technology they desperately need to protect Canadian citizens and Canadian sovereignty, at home and abroad, while building a more resilient and diversified economy that will stand for generations. 

But we will not realize that opportunity by treating each tranche of Build, Partner, Buy as competing goals. The reality is that advancing Canada’s national security and economic resilience means treating allied collaboration as foundational rather than as an afterthought. 

Canada’s Defence Investment Creates Global Opportunties

Building in Canada, partnering with allies and buying from partner nations each play an equally important role in a strong defence ecosystem; they are complementary, not oppositional, ideas. And some companies in Canada can play a role in all three. 

There are already many established, multinational firms that act as key anchors for Canada’s defence industrial strategy. They provide stability, time-tested expertise, global reach, and established supply chains across Canada and its allied networks. But they also employ, build and grow right here in Canada, many with separate Canadian arms and distinctly Canadian benefits that contribute directly to the Canadian economy.

They also create Canadian tech innovations that are sought out by other countries, powering a defence export market that, in turn, bolsters a strong and resilient economy. 

A Canadian Export Case Study

One recent example of this model is the combat management system trusted across the Royal Canadian Navy. Combat Management System 330 (CMS 330), provided by Lockheed Martin Canada, was initially developed in Canada and deployed in Canada, and has continued to be enhanced and developed by Canadian workers, ensuring it remains entirely Canadian-owned. 

But the opportunities born from CMS 330 have extended beyond our borders. Through international exports, CMS 330 has become a Canadian-developed capability procured and used by allied navies around the world, including New Zealand, Chile, and, most recently, selected to be the Common CMS for the entire German Navy’s surface combat fleet. 

In fact, since 2014, Lockheed Martin Canada has exported systems, technologies, and services to 19 allied and partner countries. 

Allied Connections Bolster Canadian Talent

Canada’s many SMEs offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on our defence challenges. They are often where specialized innovation, regional expertise and emerging technologies begin to take shape and are critical to building Canada’s talent pool. The challenge is ensuring those capabilities can scale, integrate into Canada’s major defence platforms and reach international markets.

Some of this is already happening, like Canadian companies playing important roles in global supply chains, participation in which offers advantages for Canadian SMEs that go far beyond immediate contract value. 

The global F-35 program shows what this can look like in practice: Canadian companies contributing to a global platform, building specialized expertise and using that experience to compete for additional work.

For nearly 30 years, Canadian innovation has helped shape the world’s most advanced fighter aircraft, the F-35 Lightning II, with over 110 Canadian companies benefiting from the international exposure and opportunities the program offers.

Now, Canada plays a key role in the development of the most advanced aircraft in the world, with more than CAD$3.2 million worth of Canadian-made components in every jet, representing contributions from suppliers in six provinces.

For Canadian suppliers, the F-35 program has opened doors to new markets, strengthened regional economies and helped companies build the track record needed to win additional aerospace and defence work internationally. 

Fueling A Stronger Defence Future

So, how can we maximize the economic and industrial potential to meet Canada’s defence moment? We need to strike a balance that combines the wide reach and deep institutional knowledge of our global allies and multinationals with the talent and expertise that already exists in the Canadian market today. 

Canada’s “Build, Partner, Buy” framework offers three distinct and valuable pillars. Depending on timing, scale, and the needs of the CAF, each pillar has an opportunity to move into the priority lane, where the positive impact on Canada is strongest.

In this way, we can build a viable export industry by prioritizing investment in technologies that can scale beyond the Canadian market and ensure Canadian companies, from SMEs to multinational primes with Canadian operations, are given the proper opportunity to grow, scale, and compete to serve Canada and its allies.