Defending Canada – Where Ocean Capability Runs Deep
When Canadians think about defence, they may think of military interventions, unfought battles, or continental security. But Canada’s new Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) is about something bigger. It is about prosperity, economic development, jobs, and security. And, at its heart, Canada’s national sovereignty and a transformational shift in how we approach it.
As an ocean nation with the world’s longest coastline with thousands of companies and world-leading research institutions, our country’s ocean sector is robust and capable, poised for rapid growth, and at the centre of Canada’s national security future. Canada’s new DIS has a core message centred around building and retaining critical defence capabilities domestically. What is less widely recognized is how many of those capabilities are ocean technologies and the dual-use opportunities that already exist throughout the country.
Marine sensing systems, autonomous vessels, Arctic surveillance infrastructure, shipbuilding capacity, and AI-enabled data platforms are all identified as priority areas for sovereign development. These are not abstract defence categories. They represent the operational backbone of how Canada understands what’s happening in its waters, maintains northern presence, protects supply chains, and responds to emerging geopolitical pressures.
Ocean technology is no longer a niche sector. It is critical to our sovereignty.
Canada’s ability to monitor its three coasts, offshore infrastructure, shipping routes, fisheries, and northern passages depends increasingly on integrated ocean sensing networks and real-time data analytics. Satellites alone cannot provide this visibility. Ongoing maritime awareness requires sensor platforms in the water, autonomous monitoring systems, and AI tools capable of processing massive environmental and operational datasets.
Canada already possesses significant expertise in these areas. Across the 1,000-member network of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster from coast-to-coast-to-coast, companies of all sizes are working with academia, community, investors, and governments to develop advanced monitoring systems, environmental intelligence platforms, and autonomous marine vehicles designed for operations in harsh and remote environments and scaling up in the process. As the modernization of defence accelerates, these capabilities will be essential not only for military readiness but also for coast guard operations, environmental protection, and emergency response.
Sovereignty in the Arctic illustrates this most clearly where more reliable infrastructure, situational awareness, resilient logistics, and technologies capable of operating in extreme climate conditions are required. Ice monitoring systems, autonomous navigation tools, remote sensing platforms, and climate-adapted ocean solutions all play a role in maintaining Canada’s operational presence as does meaningful partnership with Indigenous and northern communities, whose knowledge, presence, and stewardship have shaped these regions for generations.
Autonomous and uncrewed systems further demonstrate the shift underway in defence capability. These technologies extend operational reach, reduce risks to workers, and allow ongoing monitoring across vast marine areas at lower cost. For a country responsible for millions of square kilometres of ocean territory, scalable autonomous systems are now a practical necessity.
Artificial Intelligence not only tie these ocean solutions together but it is an area of particular strength for Canada, representing more than 60 per cent of Canada’s Ocean Superclusters project portfolio today. AI now underpins sensor fusion, predictive maintenance for vessels, navigation safety, threat detection, and logistics optimization. Investments in sovereign AI-enabled marine systems deliver benefits beyond defence, supporting fisheries management, marine safety, climate monitoring, and the future of marine shipping. The same technologies that protect national security also strengthen our economic productivity and contribute to a healthier ocean environment.
The “Build, Partner, Buy” framework in the new strategy acknowledges this reality by emphasizing domestic industrial participation in key technology areas. If implemented effectively, this approach can help ensure Canadian firms are not just subcontractors in global programs but contributors to the core design, development, and support of critical systems. This distinction matters. This is not only about owning equipment, it’s about controlling intellectual property, maintaining skilled workforces, sustaining domestic supply chains, and the ability to adapt systems as required.
The Defence Industrial Strategy signals that Ottawa understands this shift. The next step is ensuring procurement decisions, innovation programs, and industrial partnerships consistently reinforce that domestic capability.
Canada’s Ocean Supercluster and its network of ocean innovation hubs across the country has a portfolio of over 150 projects valued at more than $600 million including many with dual-use capabilities ready to be deployed to strengthen our security. This, combined with a shared ambition to grow Canada’s ocean economy to $220 billion through Ambition 2035 puts Canada’s national ocean cluster at the ready to support government defence strategy and accelerating homegrown solutions and capabilities. As a country defined by its oceans, our sovereignty depends on what Canada builds at home.