Ottawa's defence and aerospace sector — one of the largest employer clusters in the National Capital Region — is pressing the federal government to dramatically speed up Canada's notoriously slow defence procurement process, warning that delays are costing Canadian companies contracts and leaving the country's military capabilities stuck in the past.
A System Struggling to Keep Pace
Canada's defence procurement process has long been a source of frustration for industry insiders. Projects that should take two to three years can drag on for a decade or more, held up by layers of bureaucratic review, shifting requirements, and inter-departmental sign-offs that seem designed for a slower era.
Defence leaders across the country — many of them based in Ottawa's Kanata North tech hub, which is home to dozens of defence and security contractors — are urging the federal government to treat procurement modernization as an urgent national priority, not a background administrative project.
The push comes at a critical time. NATO allies are ramping up defence spending and signing contracts at pace, while Canadian firms watch opportunities pass them by. Industry representatives argue that if Canada doesn't fix its procurement pipeline now, domestic suppliers will lose the scale and capability needed to compete — and the country will become increasingly dependent on foreign-built systems.
What Modernization Actually Looks Like
Defence leaders are calling for several concrete changes: streamlining the approval process for lower-risk acquisitions, giving departments more flexibility to enter rapid prototyping agreements with Canadian companies, and creating clearer timelines so industry can plan investments with confidence.
There's also growing support for a more agile approach to software and cybersecurity procurement — areas where Ottawa-based firms like those clustered along the Kanata North corridor excel. Right now, the government's acquisition rules were largely written for hardware: ships, planes, vehicles. They struggle to accommodate iterative software development and fast-moving cyber capabilities.
The Ottawa Stakes
For Ottawa specifically, this isn't just a national policy debate — it's a local economic issue. The National Capital Region is home to National Defence headquarters, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), and a dense network of defence contractors, consultancies, and technology firms. Many of these companies depend on federal procurement contracts for the majority of their revenue.
When procurement moves slowly or unpredictably, Ottawa-area firms can't hire, can't invest in R&D, and can't grow. Some lose their best engineers and researchers to American defence primes that offer more stable work pipelines.
The call from industry leaders is clear: modernizing procurement isn't just about buying better military kit faster. It's about building a defence industrial base that can sustain Canadian sovereignty and support thousands of skilled jobs here in Ottawa and across the country.
What Comes Next
With defence spending finally climbing toward NATO's 2% of GDP target, the window to get procurement reform right has never been more important. Industry and government will need to move in lockstep — and Ottawa's tech and defence community is watching closely to see if the feds can match their ambition with action.
Source: Ottawa Business Journal
