Strengthening Canada’s defence through collaboration, research, and innovation

At this time of global uncertainty, national defence is needed now more than ever to support Canada’s sovereignty, borders, and people. 

Canada’s defence spending is set to rise significantly in 2025-26, reaching NATO’s two per cent target. This is welcome news in the international turmoil we currently find ourselves in. There is a clear opportunity to invest in resources that are sustainable and that strengthen Canadian-grown innovations, infrastructure and science now, and into the future. 

Building Canada’s defense capabilities requires active participation with this country’s thriving academic research and innovation sector. Our research community has the tools, knowledge and frankly, the grit, to positively influence how Canada defends itself.

We only need to look to Northern Canada to see why unifying our defense planning with research development is so important. 

Canada must monitor and defend its northern territory as global interest in this area continues to grow. However, Northern Canada is undeniably unique with its extreme climate and remote economy. These factors make it particularly vulnerable to emerging international threats. 

Many questions arise when we think about the North and how to defend it. How do we build runways in permafrost zones without harming the ecosystems? What materials can withstand the frigid temperatures? How do we manage the potential threat of dormant pathogens hidden under the permafrost? How do we properly and respectfully work with the Indigenous peoples who have lived in these spaces for centuries?

Furthermore, socioeconomic issues in those areas, like food disparity, the cost of living, and emergency preparedness planning add to the complexity of defending it. We can’t air-drop in to defend this space, we need a long-term, complex and thought-out plan built through research, innovation, and engagement of communities that have lived in the North for generations. Research stations like the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) have been beneficial in maintaining our claims to sovereignty over the North but we must create a broad scientific presence beyond CHARS as well.  

The reassuring news is that Canada is home to some of the best researchers and policy scholars and they are supported by some of the most advanced research infrastructure in the world. 

Canadian universities, especially the U15 group of research-intensive universities, are primed to take strong and joint action. We saw firsthand during and after the COVID-19 pandemic that strong investments in vaccine research and innovation can build strong, long-lasting research capacity in this area. This can be seen by the unprecedented growth at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at University of Saskatchewan (USask) and through the subsequent creation of biomanufacturing hubs across the country.  

We are already set up for success with unique research infrastructure, right in our own backyards. The Oceans Network located at Dalhousie University, through additional investments, can have robust and unique capabilities to monitor maritime ecosystems and support Canadian forces. Similarly, we have deep capacity to research new materials at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at USask and TRIUMF in British Columbia. 

We are positioned to lead in ocean and new material research, and Canada can also lead in the energy transition. Now is the time to speed up the development of new technologies to generate nuclear energy that is safe, clean, and reliable for powering homes, schools, and businesses. Once again, this infrastructure is already in place. Canada’s government laboratories and universities such as McMaster and USask have a stellar track record in the area of nuclear research that we can tap into, exactly for this purpose, but further funding is needed to make this a reality. 

Canadian universities have proven that research can lead to economic impact and innovation. We only must look at the University of Waterloo which has demonstrated their heft in moving innovations to commercialization. We must catalyze the university-based incubators to replicate similar successes across the country and link these successful innovations to Canada’s national defense strategy. 

To catalyze the defense ecosystem, we need a cohesive national research strategy. To develop missions of strategic importance to Canada, we need a national body that can go beyond the departments and disciplines. Unfortunately, Canada still has not acted on one of the major recommendations of the Advisory Panel on Federal Research Support System (Bouchard Panel) to create a capstone body to do exactly that. 

Another key component of launching this national defense and sovereignty project is recruiting, training, and retaining high quality talent. As the recent mess around international students has demonstrated, we cannot simply rely on the foreign talent to come to Canada. To attract more Canadian youth for careers in research and innovation, we need a national program built around attractive scholarships, industry experience, and alignment with national missions. 

Current programs like NATO DIANA and IDEaS are addressing critical defence challenges and have been instrumental in connecting Canadian researchers and innovators to global security initiatives. 

But there is still more work to be done to facilitate collaboration between research and defence and to see it through a broad and inclusive lens. Canada needs to be building on the foundation of NATO DIANA and IDEaS because research can benefit defense in many, and sometimes surprising, ways.  

Now is the time to start conversations with our policymakers to connect with researchers on leveraging their innovations with our Nation’s defense goals. Defense means bringing home grown innovation and manufacturing from ideas to implementation. It means working together, bringing our strengths to the table, and defending our interests.

While adding great value to Canada’s defence goals, the innovations that young researchers build will be here for many years to come and can be adapted into other areas of our lives.

We need to take this increase in funding seriously and see it as an opportunity to align innovation with defence. Co-developing innovative solutions and leveraging our current research ecosystem in the name of defence, will benefit us all. 

Please note that Co-Pilot and Google were used as research tools to research information for this editorial. The text was written by Baljit Singh and edited by Leslie-Ann Schlosser.