Saab today announced the appointment of Cara Salci as President of Saab Canada, starting September 8th 2026.
Salci brings more than a decade of executive leadership in Canada's defence and security sector, with extensive experience in business growth, industrial partnerships and government relations. Throughout her career, she has worked closely with Canadian industry and government to advance innovation, strengthen industrial capabilities and support Canada's evolving defence priorities.
As President, Salci will lead Saab Canada's continued growth while strengthening relationships with customers, partners and government. She will oversee the company's Canadian operations and support Saab's long-term strategy of expanding its presence and partnerships across the country.
"Canada represents an important strategic market for Saab, and we are pleased to welcome Cara to lead our Canadian business," said Micael Johansson, President and CEO of Saab. "Her deep understanding of Canada's defence landscape, combined with her proven leadership, strengthen Saab Canada's position as we continue supporting the country’s security and industrial ambitions."
Salci joins Saab following executive leadership roles at Thales Canada, where she most recently served as Vice President, Growth, Industry & Corporate Affairs. Earlier in her career, she held senior positions within the Government of Canada and the health care sector.
"Saab has established itself as a trusted partner to Canada through innovation, collaboration and a long-term commitment to building Canadian capabilities," said Cara Salci, incoming President of Saab Canada. "I am honoured to lead Saab in Canada during this pivotal time and look forward to working together with our employees, customers and partners to deliver enduring value and capability to Canada.”
For more than three decades, Saab has been a trusted partner in Canada, with products in services across the Canadian Army, Navy and Air Force, along with its security and commercial aviation sectors. With a growing Canadian team and expanding portfolio, the company remains committed to supporting Canada's defence and security priorities while contributing to the country's industrial and economic growth.
For those who want Canada to buy/build the Gripen one might view this as another piece of the puzzle leading to the potential acquisition of the Gripen. I might be reading too much into it. I still think it’s all tied into Trump and CUSMA. Unless things go right off the rails with the U.S. the f35 is reaching the point where cancelling the order is practically speaking not even an option. What that leaves us with is convincing the Americans to get on board with a supplementary Gripen acquisition so Canada has enough operational airframes to contribute to NORAD/continental/arctic defence needs to offset the shockingly poor readiness rates of the F35. Remember 88 f35s gets us about 36 operational mission ready jets(if we’re lucky) which also happens to be the exact number of mission-ready jets required by Canada under our NORAD commitments. Or just stick with the f35, get the Mirabel maintenance depot up and running(unless Trump blocks it) and pound away at those readiness rates, and then go all in on GCAP. I say take the Swedish offer and I’m betting the utility of those crafty little jets will prove their worth over many years. We can than begin work with Sweden developing CCA’s to expand the capabilities of our Gripen fleet and use that experience to allow Canadian manufacturers to contribute to GCAP as a higher tier partner and focus our efforts on becoming leaders/experts in the emerging system of systems space. Pins and needles in the meantime.
Saab produces all sorts of things, I wouldn’t read anything I to this at all vis a vis Gripen.