This article originally appeared in The Hill Times.
By Martin Green, May 21, 2026
I had the privilege to attend Chatham House rules dinners in Edmonton and Calgary recently with diverse defence and dual-use senior executives and experts. These discussions provided two of the best-informed conversations I have had on the imperative of Canada’s defence mission.
While I was aware of the significant Canadian Armed Force’s (CAF) presence and the growing defence and dual use ecosystem in Alberta, I was—to be frank—gob smacked by how prolific, co-ordinated, and well positioned they are to play a leading role in key facets of Canada’s new Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS). Alberta’s growing aerospace and defence sector has over 500 companies and 16,000 employees, and exports over 40 per cent of its products.
Alberta and the West are also critical Canadian gateways to the Arctic and to the Indo-Pacific. The province’s post-secondary institutions, the private sector including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), many domestic and foreign defence primes, and all levels of government have been investing in this enviable forward posture for years.
Our deliberations recognized Canada reaching two per cent of GDP spending on defence although this was seen as a belated first installment. The real buzz amongst the gathered was the opportunities on the runway to five per cent of GDP over the next 10 years. However, there were real concerns about whether or not enough decision makers in the Ottawa bubble were aware of Alberta’s burgeoning defence and dual use ecosystem, and greater concern about Ottawa’s actual capacity to truly reform defence procurement and sustain delivery on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s signature DIS initiative.
Interestingly, at the strategic level many felt that the DIS long-term success needs to be predicated on and guided by a National Security Strategy (NSS) that prioritizes the trends and threats facing Canada. An annual NSS would give the federal government the social license from Canadians required to invest in and develop the whole-of-society responses and tradeoffs that are necessary to deter adversaries, protect citizens, build prosperity, and defend our sovereignty.
Without a holistic strategic approach, the DIS may easily become a fragmented laundry list for military kit. Ultimately, the NSS is a vehicle that would inform Canadians of the risks we face and foster the national security debate and cultural shift that Canada has ignored for too long.
In recognition of the generational investment the DIS represents, many also asked the macro question: “Where is the money going to come from?” For many, the answer is clear: the DIS and its costs go hand in hand with Canada becoming an energy superpower, and by developing our critical minerals. Economic and supply-chain security is national security, and that is integral to Canada’s prosperity and sovereignty. While simplified, this is true and it is urgent.
The DIS’s centrepiece is the Defence Investment Agency (DIA). Pending legislation to establish this agency will create a new standalone body with expanded authorities to streamline and accelerate military procurement, and attach it to a minister. To date, the DIA is only partially staffed. The secretary of state responsible for the DIA, Stephen Fuhr and the CEO Doug Guzman have a monumental task in front of them.
Stakeholders underlined that real procurement reform will involve a range of major policy, program, and regulatory shifts if the DIS is to meet expectations. These include clarity and transparency around defence demand, bidding processes, industrial and technological benefits, Indigenous participation, security requirements, supply chains, Investment Canada, IP frameworks, joint ventures, export supports, controlled goods regulations, financing options, and feasible pathways to enable SMEs to participate. It is clear that the current DIA $100-million limit for projects needs to be significantly lowered if SMEs are to be actively engaged. The enormity of this reform and investment dictates that it will evolve incrementally over the next few years.
The breadth and depth of Alberta’s defence and dual use ecosystem is founded on an 80-year legacy with the CAF and its four key Alberta facilities: bases in Wainwright, Suffield, Edmonton, and 4 Wing Cold Lake. This ecosystem is part of the CAF’s overall operations, NORAD and NATO contributions, skills development, maintenance, infrastructure, research and development, and testing. It is a world-class hub for dual-use high-tech innovation and manufacturing across essential domains including: aerospace, space intelligence, unmanned systems, sonar, electronics, AI, quantum computing, hypersonic capabilities, and robotics. Much of this is focused on Arctic operations and capabilities. These are dual use domains that will leapfrog the CAF into being a modern military.
Our deliberations included a lot of well-founded provincial pride but not parochialism. If Ottawa meaningfully partners with the Alberta defence and dual use ecosystem and Canada’s other defence innovation hubs it will go a long way to making the DIS a success—and dare one say to “nation building.”
Martin Green is a senior adviser at Global Public Affairs in Ottawa, and a senior fellow at the MacDonald-Laurier Institute. He is the former assistant secretary to cabinet, intelligence assessment at the Privy Council Office (2015-2024).
