Monday, December 8, 2025
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA — A group of Canadian veterans, engineers, public policy and business leaders have launched the Canada Defence Manufacturing Corporation (CDMC), a new domestic venture focused on reshoring and rebuilding Canada’s domestic defence manufacturing base and strengthening the country’s role as a trusted supplier to allied nations.
CDMC’s formation comes at a pivotal moment for Canada’s economy and security. With an unprecedented global increase in military spending, an overreliance on foreign-owned prime contractors, and a push by allies to diversify their supply chains, the company aims to make Canada a central player in the allied defence industrial base.
“Canada’s geography gives us a unique strategic advantage — we are an ocean away from most conflict zones but fully integrated with our allies,” said Brad Baragar, a co-founder of CDMC and the company’s Chief Executive Officer. “That combination of security, proximity, and reliability makes Canada the ideal location for allied nations to source critical defence production. We are building an industrial capability that will reduce our own dependence on foreign-owned defence companies and meet the demand of our allies - all while creating good jobs at home.”
Canada’s federal government has recently signaled its intent to diversify exports as part of its economic strategy, and negotiated Canada's participation in the European Union's SAFE initiative. With global trade patterns realigning and allied nations seeking to reduce over-reliance on any single partner, Canada is uniquely positioned to leverage its strengths to lead a new era of secure, high-value defence production.
“Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Europe has expanded its defence production capacity – but it’s not nearly enough to meet the demand of our western allies,” said Richard Clark, Co-Founder of CDMC. “Our goal is to ensure that Canada contributes meaningfully to the rearmament effort, by leveraging our manufacturing and resource strengths, as well as our strategic geographic position. We’ll do this not by competing with our allies, but by complementing them.”
CDMC will work closely with federal and provincial partners to identify suitable manufacturing sites and establish a fully Canadian-owned platform capable of meeting growing domestic and allied demand.
CDMC will begin with a focus on restoring large-scale defence manufacturing within Canada, drawing on the country’s existing expertise in advanced materials, manufacturing, and logistics.
The company’s founding team includes veterans, engineers, finance professionals, and former government officials with decades of combined experience across defence, manufacturing, and public policy and procurement.
For Additional Information:
Richard Clark
Co-Founder
Canada Defence Manufacturing Corporation (CDMC)
rc@cdmcorporation.ca
Noah Note: Well, seems we have a new player wanting to jump into the munitions game. Inevitably, we were gonna see a bunch of similar organizations pop up. I know of two others in the works. Munitions are important, shocking I know, and certainly my disdain for the Munitions Supply Program is well known to all of you by now.
However, such ventures face significant challenges. They not only have to deal with the Oligarchy that is the MSP, but also need to get past the many regulations and red tape that hinder the rapid expansion of the munitions supply.
It's not discussed very often, and certainly not publicly, but Canada does not make it easy to simply identify and build. That is true across almost every industry, but Munitions Manufacturing faces a number of specific obstacles in its way.
Things like the Controlled Goods List/Controlled Goods Program (CGP) and the Explosives Act are important and serve great purposes, yet do have a burdensome effect on such expansions. It's something a new company will have to work against, and will inherently slow down and grind the process.
Similarly, unless the MSP is reopened—which I believe it does need, along with expansion of mandate—such an organization will have no set guarantees. They will be outside the system, unable to play the game they need to survive.
The MSP has successfully paid for the existence of the factories. It achieved the goal of preventing the extinction of Canada's sovereign Munitions Industrial Base, but it has not paid for readiness. It did not retain the actual physical ability to scale production. It has not evolved with the times to account for new munitions, new needs, and keep lines involved with the latest technologies.
The supply chain is still incomplete; just ask about Canadian fuze production. It is archaic, slow, and not fit for purpose. It is for those reasons that the system needs to be reopened and reworked. Australia launched the Australian Missile Corporation to help guide the Australian missile supply chain.
They released the Australian Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Plan last year, backed by tens of billions in funding, not just to attract suppliers but to support R&D, disposal, and storage.
That is the example Canada needs to look at. It is the level of commitment and thinking we need. The Australians aren't just attracting production of their own munitions either. MBDA has been exploring setting up Mistral production in Australia thanks to its fledgling, well-supported supply chain. That's a missile Australia doesn't even use!
We talk a lot, and many ponder on Canada being a safe space, a place allies can manufacture munitions and critical components with a lot less risk in conflict than in places like Europe or Korea. Australia is doing that right now; we evidently are still stuck in our Cold War relic.
So you know what? Good for you, little CDMC. I hope you succeed. I hope you get to be a part of the system, if only to dream of a better system than we have now.
Good news.
I'm wondering what support Canada will be for the new E5 military alliance.