Canada will spend more of its growing military budget with domestic firms under a defense-industrial strategy that’s meant to unleash more than C$500 billion in investment over a decade.
The government wants to more than triple Canadian defense industry revenue, boost defense exports by 50% and create 125,000 jobs over a 10-year period.
The strategy aims to reduce reliance on the US for security and boost the share of defense acquisitions awarded to Canadian firms to 70%.

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Canada is embarking on its largest military buildup in decades, driven by an aggressive US administration and mounting concern about Russian activity in the Arctic. After years as a NATO spending laggard, the country is racing to increase its military outlays. NATO members have agreed to spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense and security by the middle of the next decade.

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Meanwhile, a CSIS officials say that China is more of a concern in Canada’s Arctic than Russia.

While Russia remains a military threat in the Arctic, Canada’s security officials told a House of Commons committee this week that they remain primarily focused on China’s threats to economic security in the North.

“Russia has a tremendous interest and focus in the Arctic,” Paul Lynd, assistant director at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), told the foreign affairs committee on Thursday. “However, they are of less concern than, say, the activities of China and other hostile state actors at this time.”

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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 16 points 4 weeks ago

Canada will spend more of its growing military budget with domestic firms under a defense-industrial strategy that’s meant to unleash more than C$500 billion ($369 billion) in investment over a decade.

The government wants to more than triple Canadian defense industry revenue, boost defense exports by 50% and create 125,000 jobs over a 10-year period. A centerpiece of the policy is a goal to boost the share of defense acquisitions awarded to Canadian firms to 70%, a big shift for a country that has long relied on US military contractors for much of its equipment.

There's gonna be a huge US sized gap in the global military industrial complex for decades.

Canada needs to invest in their own production, and it would be stupid not to take advantage of people not wanting to buy American anymore at the same time.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 11 points 4 weeks ago

“Russia has a tremendous interest and focus in the Arctic,” Paul Lynd, assistant director at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), told the foreign affairs committee on Thursday. “However, they are of less concern than, say, the activities of China and other hostile state actors at this time.”

Hmm, I wonder who those others could be.

[–] Kowowow@lemmy.ca 11 points 4 weeks ago

I just got a job at a shop that wants to start working on military stuff so they might be in for some good amount of work

[–] maplesaga@lemmy.world -1 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Unlocking billions is a weird way of saying borrowing billions from the future and ballooning future austerity.

[–] RaskolnikovsAxe@lemmy.ca 8 points 4 weeks ago

Yes, we have to invest, which usually involves borrowing money to create the conditions for increased revenue.

Did you have another solution that also meets our increased security needs?