Manitoba’s business community recently gathered for a Manitoba Chambers of Commerce special event, Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy and Manitoba’s Opportunity, featuring a keynote address by the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Industry. The event brought together business leaders, manufacturers, innovators, and policymakers to explore how Manitoba companies can participate in Canada’s evolving defence industrial landscape.
Minister Joly outlined the federal government’s newly released Defence Industrial Strategy, a long-term plan to strengthen Canada’s defence capabilities while expanding domestic industry. The strategy focuses on building Canadian industrial capacity, strengthening supply chains, and accelerating innovation in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, aerospace, technology, and critical minerals.
Canada, she noted, is entering a new era of defence investment and industrial development. Over the next decade, the federal government plans to invest more than $500 billion in defence infrastructure and procurement with the goal of creating 125,000 jobs, increasing defence exports by 50 per cent, and significantly expanding Canada’s domestic industrial capacity.
At the heart of the strategy is a renewed emphasis on Canadian production, research and development, and intellectual property ownership. Minister Joly underscrored the government’s approach to strengthening domestic capability:
“We will build Canadian. If we can’t build, we will partner. And if we can’t partner, we will buy.”
Her message to Manitoba’s business community was clear. This moment represents both a national security imperative and a significant economic opportunity. Provinces that organize their industrial strengths and align with national priorities will be best positioned to benefit from the next generation of defence investment.
The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce thanks Minister Joly for joining Manitoba’s business community and sharing the federal government’s vision for Canada’s defence industrial future.
Thank you to our presenting partner the University of Manitoba and to our supporting partners at Magellen Aerospace and Thompson Regional Airport. Thank you also to our exhibitors Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters and Commissionaires.
