This year’s CANSEC comes at a pivotal time for our industry

BY CHRISTYN CIANFARANI

Anyone watching the news over the past 18 months will have noticed that national and international security are having a moment. For decades, Canadians have gone about their daily lives, comfortable in the knowledge that our country’s geographical size, protective ring of three oceans and mighty neighbour to the south mean we face few direct military threats.

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and alleged interference from China, we are waking up to a harsh reality. Global geopolitical instability has brought the security challenges we all face into sharp focus, leading to reflection around investments linked to our Canadian Armed Forces, to the cybersecurity domain, to Ukraine, and in support of the defence of North America.

Canada’s defence and security industries – a significant portion of which are based right here in the National Capital Region – can and should play a pivotal role in our responses to these challenges. Defence is a constantly evolving sector that contributes nearly $10 billion to Canada’s annual GDP. The cybersecurity industry, whose revenues and employment ballooned by 30 per cent between 2018 and 2020, brings in an additional $3.2 billion to GDP. These industries are rich in STEM and R&D, dominated by SMEs and home to companies engaged in everything from shipbuilding to advanced simulation to artificial intelligence. You’d probably be surprised by the sheer breadth of what we do.

National security is also a unique business environment, subject to vigilant government regulatory oversight at home and a highly managed and protectionist market abroad. Government is the main customer, but many products and services have commercial variants that we find, at times, in our own homes. Layer on top of this the challenges associated with domestic military procurement and you’ve got a steep learning curve for new entrants, especially if the expectation is to just deliver commercial-off-the-shelf.

But many companies have recognized –and continue to recognize – the incredible opportunities that exist in this domain and have answered the call to become part of something much bigger than their individual shop floors and balance sheets.

Each spring, Ottawa rolls out the red carpet for Canada’s largest trade show devoted to defence, security and emerging technologies: CANSEC. Hosted by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), which I lead, the show attracts thousands of delegates from Canada and abroad representing industry, the military and government. The show provides an annual boost to our local economy to the tune of $15 million, plus the opportunity to forge and strengthen the connections within Canada’s defence and national security communities. And let’s be honest: it also gives industry a chance to show off some cool stuff.

The theme for this year’s CANSEC – “Together on Every Front” – is both a call to action and a reminder that the protection of our nation is a collective responsibility. Over the past year, allied governments in countries large and small have recognized that they need to bolster their domestic defence industries to meet the challenges of an increasingly unstable world order. At this pivotal moment, Canada must make a strategic choice to do the same; favouring, supporting and actively promoting homegrown businesses like the 300-plus companies exhibiting at CANSEC. Done right, this will ensure a healthy and sustainable defence industrial base that’s nimble, globally competitive and contributes even more to our local and national economies.

So, yes, defence is having a moment. If we’re smart, we will rise up to meet it.