Canada’s new Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) sends a clear signal that defence capability, economic security, and industrial capacity are inseparable. Investment will deliver tangible outcomes: a stronger domestic industry, sovereign capability, and cooperation with allies.
Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the first Canadian Defence Industrial Strategy at our CAE headquarters in Montreal. This marks an important first step for Canada, establishing a framework to reach 5% of GDP in defence spending and laying the foundation for technology development, defence industrial growth, and high-technology, high-paying jobs in Canada.
We look forward to collaborating with Canada in identifying the industrial capabilities Canada must protect, and which can be scaled for export. This strategy is good for Canada, good for Quebec, and good for CAE.
With the DIS, we have the policy framework to support our investment. We have clarity of intent and demand. And strategically important, we have codified Canada’s sovereign capabilities. This reinforces the importance of national champions – companies that will partner with the government to develop the defence industrial base.
For CAE, this presents a unique opportunity in our 80-year history. CAE is already a pivotal partner in the world’s civil aerospace industry. We are the world leader in simulation and training. We produce more civil training devices than anyone else. We operate the world’s largest independent civil training network, and we support almost every operating aircraft type and every customer. And we do all this from our Montreal-based headquarters.
We intend to leverage this policy framework to develop an equally robust defence business. Working with the government, we will build, partner, and buy the training, simulation, and mission rehearsal capabilities that Canada needs. We will support requirements across every domain – space, cyber, air, sea, and land – and deliver these capabilities by leveraging our worldwide scale and capability.
Success depends on turning ambition into action, and I believe all contractors have four near-term responsibilities.
Action 1 – Invest in defence technologies
From engineering to advanced training, Canada has long contributed to allied security. Our reputation was earned through capabilities tested and refined at home. Operational credibility came first; international confidence followed.
History proves the point. The licensed CF-104 program – integrating aircraft customization and Canadian Orenda engines – helped CAE secure its first international contract.
Most importantly, advances in defence are not confined to this sector alone: research and development consistently flow into civil aviation and broader digital technologies – from advanced simulation and data analytics to artificial intelligence and human-machine integration.
These dual-use innovations fuel Canada’s wider technological ecosystem, strengthening universities, subject-matter experts, and small and medium enterprises while boosting productivity well beyond defence. The result is a pipeline of high-skill, high-wage jobs that keep talent in local communities and drive innovation with global reach.
Action 2 – Leverage commercial capacity
Successful aerospace and defence companies often have a mix of defence and civil businesses, a model that allows CAE to leverage defence innovation to shape the future of training and simulation. This dual-sector strength also enables us to deliver critical defence hardware at a lower cost, a higher quality level, and with greater predictability.
This is CAE. We are 55% civil, and 45% defence. We operate around the world, training 155,000 pilots a year. Building on this global scale, we will step up investment to build the training systems of the future, designed in the factory of the future, and operated in the environments of the future.
Action 3 – Develop partnerships
Accelerating procurement is essential, but readiness also depends on partnerships, exports, and continuous training. It requires early engagement with international and domestic players. Only through partnership can we ensure the spectrum of capabilities will be available here. Partnerships also support our export ambitions.
Domestic partnerships are equally important. As a national champion, we have a responsibility to invest in domestic suppliers and SMEs to build a comprehensive industrial ecosystem.
Canada’s innovators and SMEs can deliver such solutions and help industry, government, and the CAF to innovate together under the right safeguards. With a clear mission and support of trusted allies, Canada can develop dual-use technologies and take them from the lab to training grounds and into allied hands.
Action 4 – Scale
With decades of experience in defence, CAE combines advanced simulation, mission-rehearsal, and digital-immersion technologies that enable efficient command-and-control and accelerate readiness. Our platform-independent training solutions are supported by a global supply chain that includes thousands of suppliers and more than 400 Canadian SMEs that gain directly from our contracts.
With approximately 13,000 employees, operations at more than 240 sites in around 40 countries, and over 80 training centres worldwide, CAE operates with passion and talent at the intersection of national capacity and global execution. That footprint allows us to bring global best practices home and to project Canadian expertise abroad in support of the Defence Industrial Strategy.
This experience positions CAE as a pillar of Canada’s defence industry and reinforces our responsibility to help Canada build, partner, and buy for the future. We are at scale and we are ready.
From strategy to impact
Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy provides a generational opportunity to turn intent to impact, strengthen sovereign capabilities, enable strategic exports, and exert national control over digital and data assets.
CAE and the broader defence industry stand ready to work with the government to turn concepts into contracts – and contracts into capability.
Utilizing the Defence Industrial Strategy and the Defence Investment Agency, we will build at home with purpose, leverage established and innovative partnerships and buy with maximum local benefits for true national sovereignty.
Achieving this requires confidence. It requires speed. It requires resolve. Credibility abroad starts with what we field at home. CAE is ready to lead the way.
About the Author
Matthew Bromberg is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CAE, which was recognized as Canada’s Top Defence Company for 2025 by Canadian Defence Review. CAE partners with the Government of Canada on major defence modernization programs, including the Future Fighter Lead-in Training (FFLIT) and the Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) programs, and plays a global role in key defence initiatives, including NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator.
