CCI Statement on Canada’s Commitment to Meeting NATO’s Defence Spending Target

Today, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada will meet its NATO commitment to spend 2% of GDP on national defence starting this fiscal year. The announcement also included a pledge to prioritize Canadian made solutions across key industries and create new structures to modernize defence innovation and procurement.

In response CCI President Benjamin Bergen issued the following statement on behalf of our members:

“Today’s announcement is a major shift. For years, Canada’s innovators have been calling on Ottawa to align defence spending with economic strategy to build sovereign capacity. Meeting the NATO target and prioritizing Canadian technologies in our defence posture are important first steps we are pleased to see the government taking.

“The new Defence Procurement Agency and BOREALIS bureau have the potential to fix a broken system. Right now, our allies trust Canadian technologies to secure their critical systems while our own government doesn’t. That has to change. As the Prime Minister noted, prioritizing made-in-Canada solutions and keeping investment at home is essential.

“Canada already has the homegrown talent, tools and experience to lead in cybersecurity, AI, and critical infrastructure. We need to make sure this new spending actually supports the companies building that capacity here at home. That’s the only way to ensure Canada is sovereign, secure, and prosperous in the 21^st century.”

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Media Contact:
James McLeod
jmcleod@canadianinnovators.org