Kongsberg Maritime, British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) Announce Landmark 76.5 MCAD Marine Innovation Simulation Centre of Excellence in Support of Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy

Press Release + Noah Note

July 8, 2026 (Kongsberg, Norway / Ottawa, Canada) - KONGSBERG, Kongsberg Maritime, and BCIT are pleased to announce a significant investment that will establish the Marine Innovation Simulation Centre of Excellence (MISE) in British Columbia. The initiative is designed to strengthen maritime innovation and skills development, support ongoing research and development, while building on key objectives outlined in Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy.

The partnership and subsequent investment are enabled through the Industrial Technological Benefits (ITB) policy, and in support of KONGSBERG programs in Canada. This investment will directly support improved facility infrastructure, onboarding of applied research and faculty expertise, and ongoing research and long-term capability development.

Through the partnership, BCIT’s new Simulation Center will be built around the Kongsberg Maritime simulation technology, providing a synthetic environment, development tools, and APIs to support collaborative applied research with Canadian industry, academia, defence, and public-sector stakeholders. It will serve as a platform for prototyping, human factor studies, testing, and accident and incident analysis including de-risking new concepts in areas such as maritime safety, autonomy, cyber resilience, critical infrastructure, port development, and low- and zero-emission operations. The hub will also help accelerate commercialization opportunities and support the development of sovereign Canadian capability in a strategically important sector.

“We are very pleased to demonstrate our continued commitment to Canada through this partnership,” said Jordan Freed, President and Managing Director at Kongsberg Geospatial, KONGSBERG’s Ottawa-based subsidiary. “Sovereign digital systems are a key capability outlined in Canada’s defence industrial strategy. Our company is pleased to play a role in building out key defence capabilities, based on KONGSBERG and Norway’s long history of maritime domain research and infrastructure.”

The partners will implement a strategic long-term capability to support sustainable and future-oriented maritime development. The technology partners will deliver the core systems, simulation environment, and technical expertise required to enable high realism, scalability, and innovation across the project’s solutions.

“Together with BCIT, we are establishing a long-term innovation and research hub for Canada’s maritime sector—one that can support safer operations, faster competence development and the testing of new concepts before they are deployed in the real world," said Are Føllesdal Tjønn, Managing Director, Maritime Simulation at Kongsberg Maritime. "By combining advanced simulation with collaborative R&D, MISE will empower Canadian maritime capability and support future sustainable growth."

To expand access and increase training capacity, the partnership will provide licenses for cloud-based simulation systems, enabling BCIT to extend learning beyond the campus—supporting flexible delivery, additional practice hours, and remote and distributed training models for its students, while also helping increase access to maritime education and skills development opportunities for Indigenous communities.

“The Marine Innovation Simulation Centre of Excellence speaks to the power of collaboration and partnership. This innovative project will enable the creation of new education and training programs, support small and medium-sized businesses to commercialize new products, and create the most advanced marine education research environment in Canada,” said Dr. Jeff Zabudsky, President of BCIT. “This unique partnership combines workforce development, applied research, and industry collaboration in one environment.”

“MISE reflects BCIT’s commitment to preparing the next generation of talent for Canada’s evolving marine sector,” said Jennifer Figner, Provost and Vice President, Academic, BCIT. “By expanding access to advanced maritime training and immersive learning opportunities, MISE will equip learners with the skills, experience, and industry connections needed to succeed in a rapidly changing sector. It will strengthen BCIT’s ability to deliver responsive, future-focused education that meets the needs of employers and communities across Canada.”

The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, said: “Kongsberg's investment in the Marine Innovation Simulation Centre of Excellence in British Columbia, made through Canada's Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy, is a significant step forward for Canada's maritime sector. As the first national hub for maritime simulation and applied research, the centre will help address the shortage of certified mariners and drive innovation. It will also support Canadian small and medium-sized businesses in developing new products and bringing them to market, while strengthening Canada’s defence industrial base. It directly addresses a skills shortage that both commercial and DND operators have identified, in advance of the new fleets being delivered."

BCIT’s strong academic capability, applied research expertise, and educational leadership is central to the implementation and development of the project. Together, the partners expect the initiative to generate significant socio-economic value through workforce development, stronger industry–academia collaboration, innovation opportunities for Canadian small and medium-sized businesses, and broader knowledge transfer across the maritime sector. The project is also expected to support regional economic activity, strengthen sovereign industrial capability, and create long-term benefits for training, research, and commercialization in Canada.

Note: Kongsberg Gruppen ASA and Kongsberg Maritime AS are now two separately listed companies following the demerger of Kongsberg Gruppen. Kongsberg Maritime was listed as an independent global maritime technology company on Euronext Oslo Børs on 23 April 2026.

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Noah Note: NOT specifically CPSP-related, but good timing and Kongsberg has put simulators and simulation technology as a major area of collaboration that they wish to explore in Canada as a consequence of CPSP. I expect we will see more in the coming weeks, as CPSP details are more ironed out amd more MOU are signed. The process does not stop at announcements!

I also expect we'll see a lot on Autonomous and Unmanned. Recreating something like the Oslofjord Critical Maritime Infrastructure Protection Test Bed in Canada has been in the CPSP pitch for a while, one of the few things we actually know of interest from Kongsberg.

Oslofjord is a live maritime zone that allows partners and authorities a space where they can run scenarios, simulate responses, and train against real-time data from radars, satellites, and underwater sensors.

It fuses subsea autonomy, surface and space-based surveillance, traffic monitoring, and analytics into a single decision-support architecture, with Kongsbergs HUGIN AUVs carrying much of the load underwater.

It is a post-Nord Stream effort to build the critical testing and simulation infrastructure needed to test Autonomous systems and operating in the Undersea enviornment. It is a NATO-unique facility that has garnered a lot of interest from people around industry, and I'm sure the CAF and Federal Government who would love a domestic facility for this kind of trialing.

While I can't say what the plan fully looks like, and what Kongsberg might be thinking. It could be different in ways, who knows, I do think it is something to keep an eye out for. It is one of their bigger, confirmed promises that I imagine will be at the top of the list to highlight.