Aerospace, defence is coming for you!
By Vincent Marmion
Aerospace, defence is coming for you!
This week is the annual Canadian Aerospace Summit 2025 (Oct 28-29), in Ottawa (followed by CADSI's Cyber Digital Outlooks on the 30th).
The annual shindig is a meeting point in Ottawa for the aerospace greats.
Canada’s Aerospace Heritage
Aerospace holds a special place in Canada, with Montréal typically ranking among the #3 aerospace clusters in the world (after Seattle and Toulouse).
Across Canada, there are several hubs of aerospace specialization:
IMP & PAL out East;
Boeing, Cascade, De Havilland, KF Aerospace, Magellan, SkyAline, StandardAero out West;
Airbus, Bell-Textron, CAE, GE, Heroux-Devtek, L3, MDA, MHI, Pratt, Rolls Royce down the middle.
Many of the Prime contractors and Tier 1s are pan-Canadian.
But times, they are a-changing, and the balance between aerospace and defence is shifting fast.
Many of these companies have weathered multiple business cycles - commercial booms, COVID shutdowns, and now a strategic rearmament.
The Quiet Shift
Canada's participation at the UK pan-domain DSEI last September rivalled (likely surpassed) that of the Paris Airshow in June, but without the finely tuned government support and participation that Aerospace has.
Aerospace had the polish: trade missions, government champions, special R&D programs, and export credit support. Defence, by contrast, often occupied the quiet corner of the room. Aerospace enjoyed decades of government coordination but defence is finding its voice - and its funding.
Finance & Momentum
For two decades, “Aerospace & Defence” (A&D) was a single industry label, but never quite a single ecosystem. Analysts in financial and consulting circles lumped the sector together, with defence always taking the back seat.
Now, Defence occupies a greater share of revenues, interest, and momentum.
Institutional investors who once talked only about flight simulators and turbofan exports are now tracking C4ISR, ground mobility, cyber resilience, and space domain awareness. Private equity that once backed cabin interiors is now chasing defence-tech startups spun out of labs in Montréal and Ottawa.
The 2% + Era
As the Canadian Armed Forces pivot to meet 2%+ in defence spending (growing to 5% in 2035), procurement energy has shifted to land and joint-domain capability - preparing for a world where conventional deterrence in Europe matters again. Urgent operational requirements have been focused on the land domain to meet the threat of conventional war in Europe. Closer trade ties and defence pacts with Europe are also on the horizon.
The Next Flight Path
Companies like Bombardier anticipated the trend and have worked hard in recent years to reposition. Others, like Magellan, have always had defence as a central pillar of their strategy. Expect more to follow.
Don't be surprised if this year's Canadian Aerospace Summit has a particularly strong shade of green and maybe a hint of camo!
ABOUT AUTHOR
Vincent Marmion is the writer behind Canada×Europe, where he examines the intersection of transatlantic defence, industry, and policy. A Reserve Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces since 2001, he brings over two decades of experience spanning government, defence industry strategy, and international cooperation.
Currently Senior Advisor for Industrial Participation at NyRAD Inc., Vincent previously served as Senior Advisor for Defence Industrial Policy at Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions and as a Senior Analyst with the Department of National Defence. He holds degrees from Bishop’s University and Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and is completing an Executive MBA at Henley Business School.
Nice article Vince! I'm going to have to keep tabs on your stuff, & hopefully glean how Canadian Defence industries are actually perceived in Europe...
Thanks for posting Noah, hope your readers found it pertinent! It's a big change for Canada's aerospace sector.