Currently, about 900 firms employ 81,000 people in Southern Ontario’s defence sector.
Those firms generate over $14 billion in revenues and contribute nearly $10B to Canada’s Gross Domestic Product.
The federal government is investing public capital with an aim to pump all of those numbers up.
Following Canada’s recently unveiled Defence Industrial Strategy, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario has announced capital through the Regional Defence Investment Initiative to support local organizations in the space.
In Canada’s eyes, the defence industry ecosystem is a dynamic wheelhouse that includes a range of technologies from aerospace and cybersecurity to robotics and AI.
In this vein, FedDev Ontario and the Department of National Defence are supporting the Creative Destruction Lab, a venture accelerator that operates 16 sites globally to help early‑stage tech companies grow through structured mentorship and guidance.
Moving forward, CDL will launch and operate the CDL Defence program, which is designed to help companies develop and advance technologies that contribute to Canada’s national security and the future capability requirements of the Canadian Armed Forces and allies.
“Canadian innovators are developing technologies that are essential to our national security and our future economic prosperity,” says Evan Solomon, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
Successful startups will create careers in these tech-related fields to help “build the technologies and capabilities needed to strengthen our sovereignty and support the growth of Canada’s defence sector.”
The Defence Industrial Strategy “reflects Canada’s commitment to having secure, timely, and reliable access to the capabilities needed to defend our country, protect our sovereignty, and confront current and future threats,” according to the country’s Minister of National Defence, David McGuinty.
Having a robust defence tech workforce “will help position Canada as a leader in defence innovation and prepare us to deal with the increasingly complex global threat environment.”
Since launching in 2012 at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, Creative Destruction Lab has supported 7,500 founders representing 4,000 companies.
“With the support from FedDev Ontario, CDL Defence provides the structured environment science-based founders need as they navigate from breakthrough research to deployment,” commented Creative Destruction Lab chief executive officer Sonia Sennik.
