On Jan. 21, 2026 the Canadian War Museum was the venue for the first Industry Day of the newly established Defence Innovation Secure Hubs (DISH).
The first DISH location, Maritime DISH, was announced with $29.4M in funding on Nov. 25, 2025 by the Department of National Defence (DND) Minister David McGuinty and is based at COVE in Halifax.
It’s important to understand that DISH is an initiative of the newly created Bureau of Research, Engineering and Advanced Leadership in Innovation and Science, known as BOREALIS. For those familiar with the U.S. Defence establishment, think of BOREALIS as being similar to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) research and development agency. The creation of an entity in Canada similar to DARPA has been an on-and-off again discussion in Canada for a long time.
BOREALIS was announced last fall in the budget and was allocated with $68.2 million over three years, starting in 2025-26. It was established by three existing organizations, the Department of National Defence (DND), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), and the National Research Council (NRC).
Maritime DISH, along with other future DISH locations, are designed to “provide secure workspaces where trusted partners can work together to develop, test, and validate new technologies.”
At the time of the announcement DND said “These (DISH) hubs will focus on critical areas of defence research and development essential to a resilient Canadian innovation industry. These areas include quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, autonomous systems, Arctic research, space.”
Maritime DISH will focus on undersea domain awareness; uncrewed and autonomous systems; advanced sensing and surveillance technologies; and AI-enabled maritime analytics.
DISH Industry Day
The Industry Day focused on an overview of DISH, the first call for proposals and then two technical briefings, one on quantum technologies followed by Drone/Counter-Drone Capabilities (uncrewed systems (UxS)).
According to a post on Maple Leaf, a DND website that posts “Stories about the Canadian Armed Forces and the Defence Team that supports them,” information was shared with stakeholders to “deepen collaboration and help shape an upcoming Call for Proposals (CFP) under the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program.”
There were “three key themes” emphasized at the event:
Research security: Speakers highlighted that evolving global threats make research security more important than ever, especially when collaboration crosses sectors and disciplines.
Quantum technologies: Presenters discussed how quantum technologies could improve secure communications and computing, offering new possibilities for defence modernization.
Uncrewed Systems (UxS): The growing relevance of UxS—especially counter‑drone capabilities—was emphasized as a critical part of modern operations and emerging defence challenges.