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How Canadian tech can break into defence contracting
DIGITAL's new webinar series helps Canadian tech founders navigate defence procurement, security clearance timelines and prime contractor partnerships as Ottawa pushes a $6.6B strategy.
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Canadian technology companies increasingly ask whether products built for the commercial market can serve defence and national security needs. For founders, the next question is: where to start?
DIGITAL, one of five federally funded Global Innovation Clusters, has heard that question often enough to build a program around it. The Vancouver-based organisation launched the Defence Market Access Series, a national webinar program that walks tech companies through how Canada's defence ecosystem works, from procurement to prime contractor relationships.
Getting into the defence market takes patience, said Nadia Shaikh-Naeem, DIGITAL's chief programs officer. “It isn't easy to manage two markets, and the defence market is a demanding one. It requires a significant amount of security. It requires a significant amount of capacity within the organization, strategic focus.”
The series arrives as the federal government directs new attention and money toward the defence industrial base. Canada's $6.6-billion Defence Industrial Strategy has created openings for companies working in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity, healthtech and other fields. It also exposed how unfamiliar many commercial founders are with this market.
“The webinar series is a culmination of us going out and listening to all of our members, listening to all the questions that they had, and really realizing that there's a knowledge gap,” Shaikh-Naeem added.
Companies enter the sector by selling directly to the government, partnering with a major contractor, or joining a partnership. Each route has its own procurement process, security requirements, integration demands and timelines. Just obtaining the appropriate security clearance can take 18 months or more, Shaikh-Naeem said – a practical challenge for smaller companies with limited runway.
More than 550 people from across Canada have tuned in so far, said Elysa Darling, DIGITAL's chief operating officer. The goal was to bring domain experts together so builders and buyers speak the same language. “Anytime you're trying to do something brand new, the path is genuinely confusing,” Darling said. She wants founders to walk away with one message: “Persevere.”
When evaluating a potential dual-use project, DIGITAL first checks whether the technology addresses a clearly defined need in a commercial, defence, security or resilience context. It then looks at technical maturity, commercial validation, scalability, domestic talent, and whether credible partners can help move the technology toward adoption.
“The technology may have an obvious defence relevance, but companies still need to understand procurement requirements,” Darling said. “They need to understand integration challenges, market access, and the realities of working with government or defence customers, which a lot of our companies don't have.”