Over 300 Senator armoured vehicles made by Brampton-based company Roshel Inc. are part of a $2 billion military aid package to help Ukraine repel invading Russian forces. (Photo: Roshel Inc.)

Over 300 Senator armoured vehicles made by Brampton-based company Roshel Inc. are part of a $2 billion military aid package to help Ukraine repel invading Russian forces.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney promised more sanctions on Moscow and another $2 billion in military aid, as Ukraine marked four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Defence Minister David McGuinty said Canada is sending some 400 armoured vehicles to Ukraine as part of the package, and Brampton-based manufacturer Roshel says it has been tapped to fill an order of 383 Senator armoured personnel carriers (APC).

One of the largest manufacturers of smart armoured vehicles in North America, Roshel has a $65-million manufacturing plant in Brampton and hired more than 250 Ukrainian refugees following Russia’s invasion.

Volodymyr Revchuk is one Ukrainian refugee working at Roshel, and said he’s proud to be “building these armoured vehicles in Canada, which help save lives and protect our fellow Ukrainians on a daily basis.”

Roshel says its Senator APC is NATO-certified and can support a wide range of functions, including as an armoured personnel carrier, mobile command-and-control unit, a law enforcement vehicle, and a medical evacuation vehicle.

The Senator can be mounted with weapons systems, including a 7.62 mm machine gun, and can also be equipped with mine-resistant technology that can withstand up to a 6 kg explosive activated under any wheel and beneath the centre of the chassis.

Some 2,200 Roshel Senators have been sent in support of Ukraine since 2022, the company says.

READ MORE: ‘No justification’ for ICE purchase of Brampton-made armoured vehicles, says anti-war group

“By procuring and donating these vehicles, the Government of Canada is investing in our local economy, supporting family-sustaining employment, and reinforcing Ontario’s role as a hub for advanced defence manufacturing,” Roshel said in a release.

Roshel has previously come under fire from anti-war activists and politicians for its now-halted export of more than 30 armoured vehicles to Israel, and the sale of 20 Senator vehicles to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid escalating violence and clashes with the public on American streets.

Global Affairs Canada declined to comment on the $10 million sale, and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Ananda has previously said the federal government was not “contacted regarding any permits for this transaction.”

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said the Roshel vehicles “will meet an urgent humanitarian and defence need abroad, but also help sustain good jobs and innovation in Brampton,” and Ananda says Moscow “must be held accountable for the damage, destruction, and loss caused by its unprovoked aggression.”

A listing by Global Affairs Canada shows Ottawa is adding targeted sanctions against 21 individuals and 53 entities, and is joining with allies to lower the oil price cap in order to reduce the revenue Russia uses to pay for its war.

The listing says the measures target “cryptocurrency infrastructure, while also degrading Russia’s conventional and hybrid military capabilities, including its artificial intelligence ecosystem and drone production.”

– With files from The Canadian Press


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