Canada’s new defence industrial strategy sets out a series of important, extraordinarily high benchmarks for the country to achieve over the next decade, including buying and maintaining most of the military’s equipment domestically. It also proposes to increase Canada’s defence exports by 50 per cent, with the goal of creating an additional 125,000 jobs across the country by 2035. “Canada cannot afford to outsource its national defence,” the strategy states. The U.K.’s defence industrial strategy, released last fall, was far more specific in terms of sovereignty capabilities the country was prepared to get behind. The new Canadian strategy was released several days after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing what he calls the America First Arms Transfer Strategy.

Source: CBC News February 16, 2026 15:33 UTC