The government is making another investment from the recently announced Defence Industrial Strategy, this time funnelling nearly $7 million into a recently launched accelerator program, CDL Defence.
Through the investment in Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) Defence program, Ottawa aims to fast-track the commercialization of dual-use technologies, signalling a strategic shift toward domestic self-reliance in a volatile global security landscape.
The funding is being delivered through the Regional Defence Investment Initiative (RDII). The new CDL Defence program is being supported by FedDev Ontario and the Department of National Defence.
The investment marks an important pivot from policy to practice. While the Defence Industrial Strategy provided the high-level roadmap for Canadian self-reliance, the CDL Defence program is targeting the “dual-use” technologies—like ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance)—that often struggle to find a clear path from a startup’s lab to a government contract.
Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation said, “Canadian innovators are developing technologies that are essential to our national security and our future economic prosperity. Today’s investments in Creative Destruction Lab supports the development of sovereign technologies to meet Canada’s defence needs.”
Sonia Sennik, CEO, Creative Destruction Lab added, “This investment recognizes that commercializing research is critical to Canada’s technology leadership and economic resilience. CDL Defence provides the structured environment science-based founders need as they navigate from breakthrough research to deployment.”
CDL has been running a Space stream since 2018 that included notable graduates such as Mission Control Space Services, Reaction Dynamics (RDX) and Wyvern to name a few.