Today, the Honourable Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement and Quebec Lieutenant, participated in CANSEC 2026, Canada's leading defence and security trade show.
As Canada meets its NATO 2% defence spending commitment, the focus is now on delivery. At CANSEC, Minister Lightbound emphasized that the priority is no longer only investment, but execution: faster procurement timelines, stronger industrial capacity at home and a defence system that can keep pace with operational needs.
The Minister advanced work under the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) and the Defence Investment Agency, both designed to modernize how Canada buys, builds and sustains military capabilities. The goal is clear: reduce delays, strengthen supply chains and ensure Canadian industry is positioned not just to participate in procurement, but to anchor it.
A major focus of the visit was Canada's shipbuilding capacity under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). Minister Lightbound met with key partners, including Irving Shipbuilding, Chantier Davie Canada Inc. and Seaspan.
Since 2012, NSS contracts awarded through the end of 2025 are estimated to have contributed approximately $47.9 billion to Canada's gross domestic product and supported or maintained more than 25,000 jobs annually. Over the same period, the strategy has generated more than $11 billion in supplier development opportunities for Canadian firms, including over $2.3 billion for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). These results reflect a deliberate choice to rebuild Canada's shipbuilding capacity after decades of underinvestment and to ensure long-term sovereignty over critical naval and Canadian Coast Guard capabilities.
The Minister also engaged with major aerospace and defence firms, including CAE, L3Harris Technologies Canada and Bombardier, as well as innovative SMEs working across advanced manufacturing, robotics and marine systems. Across all discussions, industry delivered a consistent message: predictability and speed in procurement are now just as important as delivery itself.
Minister Lightbound's participation reflects a broader shift in Canada's defence posture: building a procurement system that's not only better funded, but more disciplined, more industrially grounded and more capable of delivering for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) on time and at scale.
