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Canada Unveils CA$470B Defense Industrial Strategy

Is the strategy a bold move for economic-strengthening defensive sovereignty or just recycled promises lacking feasible plans?

Published 13 hours ago

Canada Unveils CA$470B Defense Industrial Strategy

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Above: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at Canadian Aviation Electronics in Montreal, Canada, on Feb. 17, 2026. Image credit: Andrej Ivanov/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-government narrative

Canada's Defense Industrial Strategy marks a historic turning point with a clear, accountable vision targeting 70% domestic procurement, 125,000 new jobs and over half a trillion dollars in investment. The Build-Partner-Buy framework prioritizes sovereign capabilities in shipbuilding, aerospace and emerging technologies while placing small and medium businesses front and center. This comprehensive approach finally treats economic security and national defense as mutually reinforcing objectives, sending unmistakable signals to allies and adversaries alike.

Mark Carney on X CDA Institute Canadian Defence Review

Government-critical narrative

This strategy amounts to recycled Liberal promises lacking crucial details on procurement timelines, specific equipment numbers or realistic implementation plans. The document hedges between military and economic priorities, creating confusion rather than clarity, while adding more bureaucracy through agencies and committees. After a lost decade of rusting warships, worn-out jets and troop shortages, vague commitments to "build" capabilities without addressing procurement system failures won't make Canadians safer or deliver promised results.

Pierre Poilievre on X Conservative Party of Canada

Philippe Lagassé on Substack

Cynical narrative

After years of neglected forces and porous borders, Ottawa suddenly unveils a half-trillion-dollar "Buy Canada" rearmament without naming a clear threat. Carney touts rearmament, SAFE memberships and foreign military recruits, yet still won’t say who Canada is defending or what it stands for. A nation that outsources manpower, imports its soldiers and hides behind alliances while neglecting core security isn’t rebuilding sovereignty — it’s admitting it no longer knows what Canada is.

Melissa on X

bu/ac on X

Eva Chipiuk on X