OTTAWA – The Liberal government is making sweeping changes to the way it approaches supporting the domestic defence industry, as Canada looks to transition away from over-reliance on the United States for military gear.
The government was expected to announce its strategy last week, but Prime Minister Mark Carney suspended his travel due to a mass-shooting in B.C. and pushed the announcement to later this week, though media outlets have now published the details.
The $6.6-billion strategy aims to help small and medium-sized Canadian businesses break into the defence industry and reorient spending decisions to prioritize equipment made in Canada.
The document claims it will spur 125,000 jobs and promises to restructure Ottawa’s industrial technological benefit policy – how the government scores firms when they compete for contracts based on how much they contribute to the Canadian economy.
This all comes as the federal government moves to quickly ramp up defence spending to meet its NATO commitments, something that the entire alliance is working on after years of saber rattling from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The strategy was rumoured for release early last fall, then delivery was publicly promised by Christmas, only for Ottawa to blow past its own deadline by more than a month.
