In October, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC) and the Department of National Defence (DND) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the country’s marine sensing capability ecosystem. It sets out a framework to convene stakeholders, raise awareness of Canadian strengths, explore pilots and demonstrations, and engage industry, researchers and Indigenous partners.
It also points to a larger question. As demand grows for awareness across our three oceans, how do we build the Canadian industrial capacity to meet those needs and give Canada more choices about what it builds, where it partners, and what it buys?
Why the ocean, and why now
Canada has the longest coastline in the world. Knowing what is happening across those waters takes sensors, uncrewed and autonomous systems, data fusion, and the companies that design, integrate, and sustain them.
Much of that capability already exists. Canadian ocean companies built it for commercial markets: offshore energy, fisheries and aquaculture, ports, shipping, and ocean science. OSC’s portfolio of nearly 170 projects, worth close to $700 million, is delivering more than 300 new products and services, many with clear dual-use relevance.
Many companies in our ecosystem have relevant capabilities but have not yet sold into defence. That gap is the opportunity.
Capacity, not isolation
Sovereign capability does not mean building every component in Canada. It means having Canadian companies that can design, integrate, operate, maintain, and adapt the systems we depend on. International partnerships can strengthen that capacity when they give Canadian firms real roles and lasting expertise.
The task now is to connect specialized Canadian technologies into complete, supportable capabilities that meet operational needs. Those capabilities need to be sustained over decades, not just demonstrated once.
What changes when an ocean company enters defence
A proven commercial product is not automatically ready for National Defence. Depending on the application and contract, defence work can bring requirements many ocean companies have not managed before:
- Security — controlled goods, clearances, cyber protection and handling of sensitive information.
- Supply chain — knowing where every component comes from and staying resilient when suppliers fail.
- Long-term support — spares, obsolescence management, and configuration control for systems that may stay in service for 20 or 30 years.
- Training and documentation — courses and manuals built to military standards.
- Working with prime contractors — meeting supplier qualification requirements and understanding industrial and technological benefit commitments.
These are not just paperwork. They are capabilities in their own right, and they take time, skilled people and investment to build. Few small and medium-sized companies can build them alone. These capabilities are also what turns a good product into part of a larger platform. OSC helps members understand what participation requires and build the capabilities to succeed.
Stronger companies have more room to learn
Whether to pursue defence work is each company’s decision. Commercially strong companies are better placed to make that choice and follow through. Because they are not dependent on defence revenue, they have room to learn the requirements, build new capabilities, and absorb the costs of entry without betting the company on one outcome.
Those investments can also strengthen their commercial business: secure supply chains, reliable support and disciplined engineering help companies compete globally.
The result is Canadian companies with more options: able to serve existing customers, compete internationally, and contribute to Canada’s sovereign capacity where their technologies fit.
People, places and communities
As Canada’s national ocean cluster, OSC has more than 1,000 members and projects on all three coasts and works alongside regional centres of excellence. That reach matters when the systems Canada depends on are spread across the same waters.
Indigenous and northern communities have a central place in this work. They live along the coastlines where much of this technology will operate, and they hold knowledge of those waters that no sensor replaces. Indigenous ownership, jobs, and skills in the ocean technology supply chain strengthen both those communities and Canada’s capacity. OSC connects communities of knowledge on all three coasts, including Indigenous communities, researchers and industry, and works with Arctic stakeholders on what lasting capacity should look like.
Where OSC fits
In defence, companies need to understand how their technologies fit into the platforms, integrated systems, and support arrangements defence customers depend on. OSC helps them find the right partners and make that connection.
The MoU gives us a framework to do more of this together: bringing ocean and defence communities into the same room, showing National Defence what Canadian companies can already do, and opening the door to pilots and demonstrations. The same capabilities that strengthen defence and security also advance the science of our oceans.
The goal is straightforward: more Canadian ocean companies that are stronger, more secure and ready to compete, at home and abroad. If you are an OSC member weighing whether defence is part of your future, we want to hear from you.
By: James Craig , Chief Development Officer, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster