Canadian defence firms press Ottawa to weigh domestic ownership in contracts

A national industry group representing Canadian-owned defence companies is urging Ottawa to give greater weight to domestic ownership when it awards military procurement contracts. Procurement means the government's process for buying goods and services. The Alliance of Canadian Defence Companies (ACDC) brought a delegation to Parliament Hill on November 3, 2026, to push for changes to that process.

The alliance has 200 members, and most of them are small and medium-sized companies. Its executive director is Dasha Cohen. The Globe and Mail reported that the delegation met with MPs and officials, including Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State for procurement, staff at the Defence Investment Agency, and Arianne Reza, deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement.

The delegation called for greater recognition of Canadian ownership and control in defence procurement. Cohen said many businesses have reported difficulties securing contracts even after the Canadian Armed Forces successfully tested their products.

The push comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney has made sovereign control over Canada's defence industry a national goal. Carney said the days of sending 70 cents of every military procurement dollar to the United States "are over." He also said he plans to "diversify away from" Elon Musk's Starlink satellite-internet network, adding that Canada cannot be reliant on critical technology such as Starlink.

Ownership of defence firms is also changing hands. Israeli defence company Elbit bought Vancouver-based International Submarine Engineering. U.S. company Red Cat Holdings purchased Quaze Technologies, which develops wireless power transfer technology for unmanned systems, drones and autonomous machines, according to the same Globe and Mail report.

In a separate deal, Lockheed Martin acquired a Nova Scotia-based undersea defence company for $3.45 billion.