Industry and Technology

This House of Commons Industry and Technology committee meeting studied Canada’s defence industrial strategy. Witnesses were Mike Mueller (Aerospace Industries Association of Canada), Christyn Cianfarani (Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries), Mike Greenley (MDA Space), Matthew Lombardi (The Icebreaker), and Michael Smith (ONE9).

Mike Mueller called for a defence industrial strategy flowing from a national security strategy, arguing it would provide the certainty industry needs to invest. He said Canada can design, certify and maintain aircraft from nose to tail and should identify aerospace as a sovereign capability. He urged procurement reform, early and ongoing industry engagement, and a complementary aerospace industrial strategy, and noted the luxury tax on aircraft has cost over $2 billion in revenue and 6,000 jobs.

Christyn Cianfarani said Canada has not had a defence industrial strategy in living memory, unlike allies such as the U.K. and Australia. She said industry has seen only “ingredients” of the strategy, not a full draft, and recommended a defence industry ministerial forum for regular engagement. She called for a growth target of 100% for the defence industrial base over 10 years and argued the strategy must give procurement preference to Canadian firms.

Mike Greenley said Canada’s space industry can design, build and operate full satellite systems and is a sovereign capability. He argued the Department of National Defence should stay at the mission level and let industry be the system authority, which would dramatically shorten procurement timelines. He said the government should strategically partner with Canadian industry early in procurement and identify space as a key area for investment.

Matthew Lombardi presented survey data showing hundreds of Canadian SMEs are ready to contribute to defence but face barriers including 18-month waits for security clearances and a procurement system not designed for software or fast innovation. He recommended moving toward “attritable mass” systems—cheaper, replaceable technology—and pushing procurement authority down to the command level. He said the DND IDEaS program should automatically connect winners to a procurement stream, as in allied countries.

Michael Smith argued Canada should focus on dual-use technologies such as AI, quantum and critical minerals, and seed the venture capital ecosystem to bridge the “valley of death” between innovation and procurement. He said the single most impactful step would be creating instruments to align public and private capital, similar to the U.S. Office of Strategic Capital or the U.K. National Security Strategic Investment Fund. He cautioned that a defence industrial strategy without a broader industrial strategy risks learning the wrong lesson.

The committee then debated and passed a motion, as amended, to study Stellantis’s decision to move Jeep Compass production from Brampton to Illinois, putting 3,000 jobs at risk. The motion calls for no fewer than three meetings with the Minister of Industry, the former minister, departmental officials, Stellantis executives, Unifor, the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, the Global Automakers of Canada, and other witnesses. The chair indicated the clerk would try to schedule the first meeting for the following Monday.