We must move quickly to build out our defence research ecosystem. Universities are the answer

In June, Prime Minister Mark Carney joined North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies in a new Defence Investment Pledge: five per cent of our annual GDP by 2035. This is the signal for Canadian strategic defence and security agencies, industries and researchers to rapidly grow their capacity and accelerate their work.

Canada’s annual defence budgets are set to scale up to reach roughly $62.7 billion next year (two per cent of GDP) and then climb to $150 billion (five per cent of GDP) by 2035. This creates a compressed timeline for planning and will require targeted investment to allow for strategic growth.  

Canada can make rapid progress by leveraging a vital and trusted resource: our universities.

Canadian universities have the capability to rapidly reconfigure advanced research facilities to support defence and dual-use innovation. They could enhance secure digital infrastructure and classified data-handling capabilities, which would in turn promote direct collaboration between university researchers, government, the Canadian Armed Forces and industry on mission-critical technologies and equipment. Investments in new infrastructure, open to trusted partners, would increase the capabilities of the entire Canadian dual-use technology ecosystem.

The priority to establish a secure research environment is evident in the Canadian government’s recent call for proposals to “gain insights regarding infrastructure, hosting capabilities, collaboration models and funding strategies” to guide the establishment and scalability of the Defence Innovation Secure Hub. 

Co-located within a university-based secure research environment, the CAF would more easily be able to share what they need, focusing the research on their technology priorities. Universities, in turn, provide the expertise and access to infrastructure to advance technology with industry. Industry can then commercialize and scale innovations, producing equipment and solutions that support Canada and its allies. 

At the University of Alberta, we can see this through the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) network — a transatlantic network bringing together the best and brightest researchers, startups and technology companies from countries allied under the banner of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). As one of two accelerators in Canada, this kind of co-location allows innovators to assess and refine their technologies in an environment that connects them to the university’s expertise, infrastructure and existing partnerships.

Allies — including the United States, Australia, Germany and Sweden — have well-funded, integrated defence and dual-use research ecosystems embedded within secure university environments. These models demonstrate how institutions like Adelaide University (Australia), KU Leuven and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) can be mobilized to support sovereign dual-use research. Canadian universities have the expertise to do the same, but implementing a university-based defence and dual-use research ecosystem will require strategic investment.

By directly supporting secure, defence-focused research, post-secondary institutions can partner more effectively with Canada’s defence sector to contribute to technological solutions with the urgency they require. Developing these solutions will help protect vital equipment and data, the people who serve around the world in the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as Canadians and Canada itself.

Currently, Canada spends three-quarters of its defence capital budget in the United States. Though there is no single solution to overcome decades of dependence on foreign technologies, Canada can make rapid progress by leveraging vital and trusted existing resources, such as universities. 

Many Canadian universities already have deep, trusted partnerships with industry and the defence sector. As such, they are well-positioned to convene collaborators for innovation sprints and mission-focused collaborations, producing solutions at the speed demanded by today’s complex geopolitical environment.

We also know that today’s students are the workforce that will be populating these industries. Universities are vital to ensuring Canada has the workforce required to meet these accelerated needs, including specialized skills and knowledge. But Canada’s post-secondary institutions are also a core part of the research and innovation ecosystem. We also know that universities, like the U of A, now offer their students and researchers diverse programs, services, and resources to foster entrepreneurship at every stage. Within a co-located system, this network of support can generate technologies, products, start-ups and ideas that will build out our industry. In this way, centering defence research and innovation in a post-secondary environment will not only address Canada’s obligations to NATO, but will also lay the foundation to ensure Canada remains secure, competitive and globally influential in a rapidly changing world.