{"id":18324,"date":"2025-07-23T16:04:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T16:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/18324\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T16:04:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T16:04:16","slug":"shipbuilding-aerospace-to-be-priorities-in-federal-strategy-to-transform-defence-sector-joly-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/18324\/","title":{"rendered":"Shipbuilding, aerospace to be priorities in federal strategy to transform defence sector, Joly says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Industry Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly said at The Globe and Mail on Tuesday that she\u2019d like to see Canada\u2019s aerospace sector rebuilt to resemble former versions of itself.Galit Rodan\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Federal Industry Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly says aerospace and shipbuilding are areas where Canada can excel as the government prepares its Defence Industrial Strategy, which aims to transform the country\u2019s status as a laggard to a leader in the sector.<\/p>\n

The strategy, which Ms. Joly said should be finalized in the coming months, will be key in shaping the future of Canada\u2019s defence industry<\/a>, through items such as job creation in manufacturing, strengthened ties with Europe and a renewed relationship with the private sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing this because, fundamentally, we cannot take our peace for granted any more,\u201d she said in an interview Tuesday with The Globe and Mail. <\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney has committed to boosting Canada\u2019s spending on defence<\/a> to 2 per cent of its gross domestic product this fiscal year, and to 5 per cent by 2035. The latter NATO target will require Canada spend up to $150-billion annually, more than double its existing budget.<\/p>\n

How should Canada rearm itself? Fix aging bases, buy submarines, air-defence systems, experts say<\/a><\/p>\n

Through military investment, Ms. Joly said she\u2019d like to see Canada\u2019s aerospace sector rebuilt into something that resembles former versions of itself \u2013 such as in the 1950s, when the country was known for its Avro Arrow program. She\u2019d also like to see the country\u2019s shipyards become an export market for the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

With the Defence Industrial Strategy on the way, Ms. Joly said the government isn\u2019t waiting to take action. Last week, she sent a mandate letter to the Business Development Bank of Canada, a Crown corporation, asking it to work with government on the development of the country\u2019s defence sector and sovereign capabilities, such as dual-use technology and military weapons and equipment. More specifically, she asked the bank to support small to medium-sized enterprises that make up the sector\u2019s supply chains.<\/p>\n

In the letter, obtained by The Globe and Mail, Ms. Joly concludes with a request to the BDC to provide her with \u201ca proposal in alignment with industry best practices to ensure that commercially viable businesses operating in the full scope of defence and security industries can access the financial supports they need to start up, grow and prosper.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first of several mandate letters Ms. Joly will give out to government bodies, such as Export Development Canada, the Canadian Space Agency and the National Research Council, asking them to actively support defence-related businesses and dual-use technologies. <\/p>\n

First, however, she said the military must be at the table with the private sector to rebuild a level of trust that has been slowly degraded after successive governments failed to adequately invest in defence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory has shown us that when you\u2019re able to have defence and the private sector really work together, you\u2019re able to spear up innovation, make sure that your country is peaceful and, ultimately, create jobs,\u201d Ms. Joly said in the interview. After all, companies want contracts, not subsidies, she said.<\/p>\n

Supports being rolled out by the government<\/a> for Canada\u2019s steel sector are also part of its push toward building sovereign defence capabilities. For example, Ms. Joly said the country\u2019s shipbuilding and aerospace industries should be buying domestic steel. And the fact that these industries have access to a Canadian supply chain for certain materials, such as critical minerals and metals, is a large part of the reason they\u2019re being identified as priorities in building strength at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot have a military that is dependent on a manufacturing sector that is either on the other side of the ocean or south of the border.\u201d <\/p>\n

Opinion: Great defence spending plan, Carney. It\u2019d be a shame if Ottawa bureaucracy got in the way<\/a><\/p>\n

This push to be more self-sustaining is already playing out in actions taken by companies such as Seaspan, which recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Ontario-based Algoma Steel Inc. ASTL-T<\/a> and Stigterstaal Canada. The partnership was formed specifically to assess the feasibility of Algoma supplying steel to Seaspan to contribute to the future of Canada\u2019s shipbuilding sector.<\/p>\n

Strategic partnerships beyond our own borders will also be a key part of the Defence Industrial Strategy. While the U.S. continues to make decisions around tariffs and its economy that serve itself, Ms. Joly said Canada is working with other countries and NATO members to become more connected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe test of this is actually the Defence Industrial Strategy because we will need to be working more with Europe on this, and obviously NATO, while continuing to understand that a lot of our companies are American-owned,\u201d she said, referring to the fact that roughly 40 per cent of the 600 companies that make up Canada\u2019s industrial base are subsidiaries of U.S.-headquartered firms. <\/p>\n

Canada is open to foreign direct investment, she said, but not at the sacrifice of its own sovereign capabilities: \u201cWe won\u2019t be an economy of subsidiaries. We will own IP and we will be able to lead the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defence is a priority for this Liberal government because the world is a more dangerous place, Ms. Joly said, and Canada needs a military it can rely upon to defend itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Industry Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly said at The Globe and Mail on Tuesday that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-18324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}