Business leaders explore BC's place in defence and sovereign systems
The world is watching Vancouver. At BC Business House, the conversation turned to defence, and to how a changing idea of security is opening real economic opportunity for British Columbia.
Right now, the world is watching Vancouver. That kind of attention does not come often, and BC Business House is built to make the most of it: a place to show global leaders, investors and partners that British Columbia is open for business and ready to build.
The world they are watching is changing too. Conversations about sovereignty are everywhere, and governments are putting real weight behind them. Canada's defence strategy is increasing investment, and that investment is opening economic opportunity for the places and industries ready to meet it.
Defence of old might have been understood broadly, by the public, as "ships and tanks." A more accurate way to define it for a modern world is the work of securing what our country runs on: our electricity grid, our data and communications, our ports and satellites. Seen this way, it is easier to see defence not as separate from the economy, but as part of it.
The conversation around defence is broadening, and that was clear at a panel session hosted by Invest Vancouver and moderated by Bridgitte Anderson, President and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.
Key takeaways
1. Defence is being treated as industrial strategy, not only military spending. Speakers tied it directly to manufacturing, technology, exports, workforce and investment, describing a shift from buying capability to building it here. "Defence is a critical part of our industrial strategy," as one put it. That framing tracks Canada's Defence Industrial Strategy, the federal policy that directs investment toward Canadian-made capability and a larger Canadian share of defence procurement. The implication is that defence decisions are also economic decisions.
2. Dual-use technology is now security capability, and BC has it in depth. Much of the opportunity lies in commercial technology that also has security uses, what the panel called dual-use: cybersecurity, satellite and earth observation, AI, quantum, ocean technology, advanced manufacturing, and marine and shipbuilding. Speakers noted that "dual use" has shifted over roughly three years from a term with negative, mostly military associations to an accepted commercial opportunity. Fortinet, whose largest global campus and threat-research hub is in Burnaby, made the case through cybersecurity, and Wade Larson of Vancouver's EarthDaily Analytics pointed to its satellite constellation for daily earth imaging.
"Cybersecurity used to be seen as an IT cost centre. Today it's part of national defence."
Derek Manky, Global VP Threat Intelligence, Fortinet
3. Government demand can pull in private capital. The recurring argument was that private capital follows clear public demand. Procurement validates a market, lowers risk for investors and helps companies commercialize. Without a domestic customer, Canadian firms often scale first with foreign governments, and innovation built here gets commercialized elsewhere. The session's framing was government as the anchor customer, not the only one, captured in a line that came up more than once: "Capital follows public sector demand."
4. Build capability at home, then export. The goal speakers described was not buying defence products, but building Canadian companies, supply chains, skilled workers and sovereign capability, which takes patient capital, long-term procurement and predictable policy. People are part of the constraint. Seaspan Shipyards, the North Vancouver builder of vessels for the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, named the workforce gap plainly.
"Our institutions here are not educating nearly enough people for what we need."
David Hargreaves, SVP, Strategy, Business Development and Communications, Seaspan
Proven at home, speakers argued, Canadian technology can move into allied markets: build it for Canada, then export it to the rest of the world.
5. The story has to change, and it cannot rest on one government. Speakers kept returning to narrative. Defence is poorly understood in Canada, some firms still avoid the word in investor materials, and that weak story limits awareness, capital and public support. The opportunity, they argued, needs a durable consensus that holds across political cycles rather than the priorities of any single government.
"We as a nation need to change the story of what defence means for us."
Joe Armstrong, President, 49North
The session also pointed to anchors for the opportunity here: MDA Space and decades of Canadian capability from the Canadarm onward, and the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, a new multilateral institution to finance defence and security projects for NATO members and allies. Canada has been chosen as the bank's host country, and Vancouver is one of the cities bidding to host its headquarters. Together they point to the case for Metro Vancouver as a hub for defence and sovereign systems.
For the BC Chamber of Commerce, sessions like this are part of how we listen to what is emerging across business communities and carry it into a wider provincial picture. What we took away is that the capability is here. The work in front of us is connecting it, funding its demand, building the people behind it, and telling the story clearly.
About BC Business House
Launched by the Government of British Columbia, BC Business House is the hub to advance trade, attract investment, and showcase BC's key sectors and opportunities. Through curated Sector Showcases, it connects business leaders, government partners, investors, and existing and potential customers to explore opportunities and advance commercial connections, pairing targeted sector briefings with facilitated engagement with global and domestic leaders.