Canadian Firms Gear Up as Defence Budget Pushes to New Heights
Businesses, banks and schools are flocking in record numbers to join the Canadian defence industry’s leading association and register for key programs to gain a foothold in the sector ahead of an influx of federal funds.
As of June 25, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, or CADSI, had an all-time high of 1,788 members, up roughly 750 members from last year and almost 1,400 more than its record low in 2021.
Founded in 1983, Ottawa-based CADSI provides its members with insight into the needs of the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as events, networking opportunities and a lobbying presence on Parliament Hill.
Traditionally, the association has been composed of mostly defence-focused companies in Canada, including small-to-medium-sized enterprises and larger contractors such as Lockheed Martin Canada or General Dynamics’ Canadian branches. Lately, however, CADSI has seen an increase in its membership across the board, including from entities that may not have shown interest in the sector previously but are now being spurred by the federal government’s booming defence budget to pay attention.
“With over 1,700 members, CADSI represents many new entrants and the more established Canadian defence companies,” Nicolas Todd, the organization’s vice-president of government relations and communications, said in a written statement.
This includes several members that aren’t even defence companies to begin with. Take Canada’s Big Six banks, for example. Most of them, excluding Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bank of Montreal, are CADSI members and at least three registered in 2026.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce touts itself as the first bank to register for CADSI earlier this year, as part of its “commitment to advancing the Canadian defence sector,” Deborah Rowe, senior director of public affairs, said in a written statement.
Language like this, embracing the once neglected sector, would have been largely unheard of from Canadian financial institutions only a year or so ago.
Even the Business Development Bank of Canada registered for a CADSI membership this year, joining its fellow Crown corporation Export Development Canada which has held a spot among CADSI’s ranks since before 2016.
The banks join the association’s 47 academic members, such as Canadian postsecondary institutions Carleton University, Queen’s University and several colleges. While some of these institutions have held memberships for several years, the association says it has experienced a 62 per cent increase in this membership category from last year.
CADSI’s growing membership list isn’t necessarily indicative of a booming Canadian defence industrial base. According to a recent report by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and Statistics Canada, based upon 2024 data, the actual size of this base is closer to around 540 companies, comparable to about a third of CADSI’s members.
Rather, the surging membership is evidence of healthy interest from stakeholders and emerging tech companies across the country in what’s happening with the industry, and a desire not to be left behind as Ottawa spends more on defence.
Another likely reason for the association’s membership uptick this year is the national conference it held at the end of May, called CANSEC. The industry tradeshow is widely regarded as one of the more critical annual events for those involved in the sector and the 2026 show was its biggest ever, featuring a visit from the Prime Minister himself.
Hugh Kolias, co-founder and chief executive officer of Canada Rocket Company, said being able to attend CANSEC, which is only open to CADSI members, was the driving reason behind why he purchased a membership after founding his space company earlier this year.
“You’ve got all the ministers and ADMs [assistant deputy ministers] and bureaucrats in one room, and also provincial ministers in attendance. So, it’s just helpful to run into people,” he said.
To register Canada Rocket Company, which has around 20 staff, a year-long CADSI membership cost Mr. Kolias $2,820. By comparison, a smaller company with between one and four employees pays $1,070 for an annual membership and a company with 500 or more staff pays $11,250, according to CADSI’s website.
These fees, as well as the fact that many of the association’s largest members are American subsidiaries, is a point of tension among some in the industry who have started their own association to offer a more Canadian alternative, called the Alliance of Canadian Defence Companies.
For now, however, CADSI remains the authoritative voice for the national sector. And while its membership numbers may be somewhat inflated by various industry stakeholders or one-time conference attendees, it doesn’t necessarily mean Canada’s defence industrial base isn’t growing – or at least, trying to.
Take the number of companies registering with Ottawa’s Controlled Goods Program, for example. The program is the federal government’s way of tracking anything that has military or national security significance, is regulated domestically by Ottawa and is defined in its Defence Production Act. Essentially, it’s how the government ensures defence products, as well as technical data such as blueprints, are safeguarded.
The program is one of the many clearances companies often need to operate in the Canadian defence industry and another metric to measure the rush to enter the market.
Since September, 2025, registration applications for the program have soared.
In spring last year, just before Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke in June about rebuilding, rearming and reinvesting into the Canadian Armed Forces, application volumes for the program were down by about 29 per cent year-over-year, according to Public Services and Procurement Canada.
Then, in the fall, they rose by about 20 per cent and peaked in February at approximately 78 per cent higher than the year prior.
Mr. Kolias’ own application was part of that February surge. He registered in the program after his company’s application to the Department of National Defence’s Launch the North competition to help develop their Canadian-designed space launch vehicle.
It was a necessary next step, he said, and one that many companies with dual-use potential – meaning the ability to sell to defence and commercial markets – will likely encounter in the coming months, if they haven’t already.
As soon as he applied, Mr. Kolias said he received an e-mail from the federal government saying its processing times for the program were outside of its typical 32-business day window given the volume of applications it was receiving.
“Which I expected,” he said. “Given everyone becoming a defence company these days.”
This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail
