Business leaders call for a Defence Industrial Base Strategy that drives prosperity
November 25, 2024, Ottawa, Ontario – Canada must develop and implement a Defence Industrial Base (DIB) Strategy, according to a new report from the Business Council of Canada (BCC).
“The Government of Canada can safeguard Canadians and honour its international commitments by investing in a strong and sovereign defence industrial base,” the report contends. “By doing so strategically, it can also supercharge Canada’s broader economic security and prosperity.”
Security & Prosperity lays out a series of policy solutions for a successful DIB Strategy in which the public and private sectors work together to achieve three strategic outcomes:
- Build and secure a sovereign, but internationally linked, defence industrial base that provides Canada and its allies with the capabilities needed to respond to the challenges presented by increased geopolitical confrontation;
- Honour Canada’s international defence obligations, including increasing industrial capacity, by investing at least two per cent of GDP on defence by 2030, 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2035, and three per cent of GDP on defence thereafter; and
- Strengthen Canada’s broader economic security and prosperity by enhancing productivity and innovation within advanced dual-use sectors vital to the creation of high-skilled jobs, as well as the country’s long-term economic resiliency and competitiveness.
“We are living in a serious moment, and the reality is that economic security and national security are now closely intertwined,” said Goldy Hyder, President and CEO of the BCC. “The only way we will be able to invest more in defending ourselves and our allies is through an industrial policy that drives prosperity, innovation and job creation.”
