The Canadian Defence Industry

The defence industry in Canada is facing serious challenges. Declining defence expenditures, protectionism in Canada's principal markets, political resistance, and escalating costs of weapons technology all threaten it. The Canadian Defence Industry in the New Global Environment is a thorough examination and assessment of the problems and prospects of the industry given the recent dramatic changes that have transformed the international security environment.

This paper argues that Canada has much to learn from the Australian's on how to reform both its defense procurement process and relationship with defense industry. Craig Stone, Director of Academics with the Canadian Forces College, examines Australia's approach to establishing a defense industry policy with a set of Priority Industry Capabilities and how that policy connects with military procurement in order to identify those lessons that might be useful for Canada.

This edited volume provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary debates and issues in Canadian defence policy studies. The contributors examine topics including the development of Canadian defence policy and strategic culture, North American defence cooperation, gender and diversity in the Canadian military, and defence procurement and the defence industrial base. Emphasizing the process of defence policy-making, rather than just the outcomes of that process, the book focuses on how political and organizational interests impact planning, as well as the standard operating procedures that shape Canadian defence policy and practices.

Silent Partners reveals that Canada’s military-industrial complex is deeply embedded in the fabric of the country. During the Cold War, Canada’s military, industrial, and political partnerships developed behind the scenes and without much public scrutiny. This book explores this history of leveraging military and defence expenditures to fund domestic industries, bolster employment, and support science and technology. It also considers the environmental impacts, ethical issues, and economic and political relationships between the Canadian military, government, private industry, and research institutions. Silent Partners is an illuminating examination of Canada’s military-industrial complex from a historical perspective.

First published in 1987, Arms Canada paints a disturbing picture of the Canadian arms industry, an industry whose sales then totalled $3 billion annually.