Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Academic, industrial and political organizations in the Edmonton region are forming a coalition to boost their chances of getting a piece of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s multibillion-dollar defence strategy.
The Edmonton Region Defence Alliance launched at Edmonton City Hall on Wednesday, promoting its capacity to capitalize on geography, innovation and industry to “advance the region as a defence, security and dual-use technology hub,” according to a news release.
“Our strengths here in Edmonton are things like our AI research and that great work that’s happening at U of A (University of Alberta),” Mayor Andrew Knack said during the launch. “We are not just Canada-leading, we are world-leading.
“And so when it comes to defence, you think about the level of investment that can go into that space, into the businesses that we’ve already been developing here.”
The alliance includes research and development from the University of Alberta and NAIT, energy, plastic and petrochemical companies under the umbrella of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland, the economic development group Edmonton Global and Edmonton International Airport.
Brent Jensen, senior director of business development with Edmonton Global, said his organization has been preparing for months to respond to Ottawa’s anticipated defence plan, which involves an estimated $180 billion in spending on procurement and $290 billion in capital investment over the next decade.
“We’re already doing much of this work,” Jensen said. “So the bigger key was how do we pull all of these assets together for a co-ordinated effort and key messaging?”
From left to right: Brent Jensen, Edmonton Global; Margeaux Maron, Edmonton International Airport; David Howe, Alberta’s Industrial Heartland; Andrew Knack, Edmonton mayor, David Bressler, University of Alberta; Ian Smith, University of Alberta. (Natasha Riebe/CBC)
An example of a collaboration already underway is the University of Alberta’s work with Canadian businesses and Defence Research and Development Canada to manufacture seawater valves, said Ian Smith, a director of research with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Engineering.
“Innovation takes place across the spectrum, it’s not just about the fancy technologies that we see,” he said. “It’s also about small things that make soldiers’ lives better — things like new solvents so it’s easier to clean a tank.”
New airforce base
A key player in the collaboration scheme is Edmonton International Airport.
Margeaux Maron, director of government and external relations with Edmonton International Airport, said it is finalizing plans for a site for the next airforce operating base in Western Canada.
“This is a more-than-generational tranche of development at our airport, which will create numerous jobs, but also numerous tangential opportunities to co-locate other maintenance, manufacturing or logistics facilities near that,” Maron said.
The airport is also opening a 2,000-acre international cargo hub, increasing the operational readiness and speed to access the North.
Knack said besides its pivotal geographic location as the closest major Canadian city to the Arctic and the North, Edmonton can play a key role in developing transportation infrastructure.
“Hundreds of billions of dollars are going to be invested Canada-wide,” Knack said. “We are going to see a large portion of that based on where we’re at.”
Aside from the financial benefits for the region, Smith also alluded to having a sense of responsibility when it comes to the nation’s defence strategy.
“All of us need to do our part for Canada to improve our defence ecosystem, to support the Canadian Armed Forces and really realize what Mark Carney is asking us to do,” Smith said.