This week at CANSEC, the federal government officially detailed the operational mechanisms driving its new Defence Investment Agency (DIA) and Defence Industrial Strategy. While mainstream headlines focused on the negotiation to acquire Saab’s GlobalEye aircraft, the key takeaway for the Canadian commercial space sector is the launch of the Defence Advisory Forum (DAF).
With Ottawa having reached the 2% NATO spending target and projecting $180 billion in direct defence procurement over the next decade, the DAF is designed to guide how that capital is deployed to build domestic sovereign capability.
Opening for industry applications on June 1, 2026, the forum will be co-chaired by the Minister of National Defence, the Minister of Industry, and the Secretary of State for Defence Procurement. Importantly, the DAF is explicitly designed to exclude specific, competitive procurement lobbying. Instead, it is tasked with macro-level capability planning and identifying systemic roadblocks to scaling the domestic industry.
Speaking to the CANSEC delegation, Prime Minister Mark Carney outlined the forum’s mandate:
“Finally, to ensure the partnership between government and defence industry remains in sync, we will be establishing a new Defence Advisory Forum… They will advise government on how to best grow our defence industrial base, our investment needs, and they will identify barriers to that growth.”
Membership will be rotational, drawing senior executives from across Canada’s 10 identified sovereign capability areas. With ‘Space’ explicitly designated as one of these 10 areas, the Canadian commercial space sector is guaranteed a seat at the table. As the Department of National Defence (DND) navigates an operational shift toward ‘sovereign manoeuvre‘ and a heavy reliance on orbital assets, effectively leveraging this representation on the DAF to shape high-level architecture and requirement planning will be important. It will serve as the sector’s premier feedback loop to warn the government of space defence capability gaps before requirements are frozen and specific procurement lists are drafted.
The DAF does raise a question regarding the opaque National Space Council (NSC). The council is co-chaired by the Canadian Space Agency and the DND. How much overlap will there be? Will DND focus solely on dual-use items on the NSC?
Focusing on C4ISR and space-based architecture
While the GlobalEye procurement dominated the aerospace discussion, unscripted remarks during the Prime Minister’s address reinforced the government’s ongoing commitments to high-tech capability funding. By reaffirming upcoming and active investments in over-the-horizon radar, quantum, AI, and drones, Carney highlighted a modernization effort that fundamentally relies on space-integrated C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) architecture.
“So from the domestic ammunition production to over the horizon radar to quantum cyber AI and drones, we’re building and partnering with Canadian materials, Canadian expertise, Canadian workers across this country.”
Capabilities like over-the-horizon radar and advanced drone networks rely fundamentally on resilient, high-bandwidth satellite communications and Earth observation infrastructure. The DAF will likely be the table where the ongoing integration of commercial space technology into these broader defence architectures is mapped out.
Shifting to an “anchor customer” model
To support the rapid scale-up advised by the DAF, the government also introduced measures aimed at streamlining procurement for domestic builders, moving away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
The government has formally committed to acting as an “anchor customer” for companies that invest in domestic R&D and local supply chains. Additionally, a new 90-day approval standard has been implemented to cut bureaucratic red tape, alongside a “Canadian Company Boost” that credits companies doing at least 70% of their work domestically as if they achieved 100%.