From Strategy to Sovereignty: Leveraging the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) to Fuel Canada’s Research and Innovation Ecosystem

Main Topic: The necessity of a collaborative, domestic research and innovation ecosystem — centered on secure research facilities and university-industry-CAF partnerships — to achieve national self-reliance and economic security under Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy. 

Keywords: National Sovereignty, Dual-Use Technology, Research Ecosystem 

The global landscape is shifting and Canada can no longer afford the risk of relying on foreign technology and supply chains. To ensure sovereignty we must move from being passive consumers to active innovators. Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) marks an historic shift in policy towards domestic self-reliance. The build/partner/buy framework is not just a procurement tool, but a blueprint for building sovereignty and economic resilience. 

University research, industry and government agencies often work in parallel – alongside each other but not easily interacting. This slows down the translation of research into real-world adoption and limits impact. The “build” pillar of the DIS requires a new approach to collaboration where universities, industry and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) work together to break down the silos. Canada can unlock the full potential of its innovation ecosystem through real-time collaboration to meet the speed of modern and evolving threats. 

Secure, cutting-edge facilities play a critical role in a collaborative ecosystem — providing facilities designed to handle sensitive data and controlled technologies. These spaces bring researchers into direct contact with end-users to explore and test solutions, enable industry to prototype and certify technologies and allow the CAF to provide real-time feedback, ensuring technologies meet operational requirements. However, the value of investing in research and secure facilities goes beyond fostering collaboration alone. 

A dynamic and collaborative environment provides additional, tangible benefits that will enrich the research and innovation ecosystem to build long-lasting impact. 

Investment in secure facilities will attract the best and brightest researchers and graduate students to Canadian universities. Opportunities to participate in cutting-edge research alongside end-users using advanced infrastructure will enable researchers to provide meaningful innovation — the more we do, the better we become. With secure facilities and the brightest minds, we will keep our talent, ideas and innovations in Canada. 

Investment in secure facilities and defence research will accelerate the development of dual-use innovations that address real-world needs. It ensures that Canadian ideas are not only invented here, but built, tested and scaled here. For example, the next great Canadian breakthrough in medical robotics could start as a solution to a problem faced by the CAF in the arctic. Advanced autonomous drone technology used on a battlefield could be adapted for wildfire management. Microgrids and energy storage systems developed for remote military bases are directly transferable to remote Canadian communities and disaster-response zones. 

Investment in secure facilities and home-grown research fosters a domestic ecosystem of startups and small-to-medium businesses to move from concept to prototype, keeping intellectual property and high-value

jobs in Canada. They will commercialize their innovations and scale their products globally, reducing our reliance on foreign technologies and boosting our export potential around the world. In a fragmented and uncertain world, economic security and national security are no longer separate conversations, they are one and the same. 

This is a defining moment — our time to work together and build Canadian technology that enables our sovereignty and secures our future. The investments needed to build an ecosystem that supports the framework of the DIS requires us to build national research capacity. In doing this work, we strengthen Canada’s research capacity, bolster our national innovation ecosystem, and drive long-term, future-proof economic growth — protecting Canada from geopolitical instability, supply chain disruptions and technological dependence. This is a national mission, one that requires everyone to show up and make a difference. Governments, CAF, universities and industry must work together to seize this opportunity. 

At the University of Alberta, we are deeply connected to industry and CAF and have established ourselves as a national leader in secure research and dual-use innovation. We are home to the Centre for Applied Research in Defence and Dual-Use Technologies (CARDD-Tech), Canada’s only dedicated defence innovation centre embedded within a university, as well as nanoFAB, the country’s largest open-access micro and nano fabrication facility. We also host one of only two NATO DIANA Test Centres in Alberta and have established a Safeguarding Research Office that serves as a reference point for excellence in secure research governance. 

Building on this strong foundation, our new Dual-Use Ecosystem for Future Engineering, National Defence and Sovereignty (DEFENDS) connects Alberta’s innovators and industry with the Canadian Armed Forces, transforming ideas into real-world capabilities, creating high-quality jobs and strengthening Alberta’s role in Canada’s growing defence and dual-use economy. 

What matters to Canadians is delivering outcomes, not just generating ideas. The University of Alberta is leading the way.