Calian closes Galaxy Broadband buy in $24M-plus-earnout deal

Calian, headquartered in Ottawa with about 6,000 employees, supplies mission-critical products and services to defence, space, healthcare and energy sectors. The company already had a presence in Northern Canada through contracts with the Canadian Armed Forces and Indigenous communities. Galaxy's expertise in multi-orbit satellite communications plugs directly into that work, Houston said, and positions Calian to support “evolving national priorities related to Arctic sovereignty, defence readiness and Northern infrastructure.”

Those priorities are real and rising. Canada's 2024 defence policy update pledged $73 billion in new spending over 20 years, with northern surveillance and communications a centrepiece. The government has also committed to upgrading the North Warning System and adding new satellite ground stations. A firm that can install and maintain high-frequency, LEO and geostationary links in permafrost conditions – and do it under classified security rules – is exactly what the procurement pipeline needs.

Calian did not disclose whether the earnout targets are tied to specific revenue, subscriber numbers or contract wins. A company spokesperson declined to comment beyond the press release. The deal adds roughly 100 Galaxy employees and a customer base that includes several classified government programs, according to people familiar with the transaction.

The acquisition is Calian's second in the satellite space in two years. In 2024 it bought a smaller provider of portable satellite terminals used by disaster-response teams. Those assets, combined with Galaxy's fixed-site expertise, give Calian a rare full-stack capability: deployable terminals for emergencies plus hardened permanent stations for strategic sites.