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Nine businesses in and around Halifax are among the first to benefit from the federal government’s new defence industry strategy.
Sean Fraser, the federal minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), was in Dartmouth on Thursday to announce a total of $4 million for the businesses whose products and services support Canada’s defence systems.
Among the companies was Sensor Technology, where the funding announcement was made.
“This is the kind of practical investment that helps Canadian companies turn innovation into real capability, good jobs and export strength,” said James Hicks, president of Sensor Technology.
Sensor Technology creates products that capture sounds beneath the water and can be used by the navy to identify threats or targets. Some of the other funding recipients are involved in building satellites, manufacturing and maintaining machinery used by the military, and logistics services.
The funding is part of Canada’s larger defence industry strategy, which was formally released Tuesday and prioritizes buying from domestic manufacturers. The strategy calls for 70 per cent of federal defence contracts to be awarded to Canadian firms within a decade, up from 43 per cent.
“I think the whole country has woken up to the idea that we have to do more to build an economy in a country that can stand on its own two feet,” said Fraser, the federal justice minister and MP for Central Nova.
Fraser said the funding brings the country closer to meeting its target of spending two per cent of GDP on the military.
$38M over 3 years
Defence businesses in other parts of Nova Scotia and elsewhere in the Atlantic region can also expect to receive funding in the next few days. A total of $38.2 million will be distributed over three years by ACOA as part of a $357-million regional defence investment program launched in December.
The funding for Halifax businesses will help create 24 jobs, and Fraser said there will likely be more jobs to come.
“We are on the precipice of achieving a flywheel effect in Atlantic Canada where growth creates growth creates growth, and to see that there’s been such a big bet placed not only by the federal government, but by private sector companies, demonstrates to me that we are the place to grow,” said Fraser.
“We do defence and security here, and we do it as well as any part of the world.”
For some in Atlantic Canada, the country’s new defence strategy was a long time coming.
“We feel that this is the time that we’ve been waiting for,” said Victoria Belbin, chief executive officer of the Atlantic Canada Aerospace and Defence Association.
She said Atlantic Canada is a strategic location for the defence industry, where there is already a strong presence of Canadian Forces as well as strong relationships with international forces.
“The companies that we represent are very focused on our security and our sovereignty, and they’re already well established throughout the world,” Belbin said.
“We anticipate the growth is going to be significant.”
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