As Canada rearms itself, a group of emerging Canadian defence technology leaders have joined forces to stand up a new trade association to represent the interests of domestic firms.
ACDC co-chair Eliot Pence argued Canada’s defence targets are “unobtainable [without] a clear voice from Canadian-owned, Canadian-controlled businesses.”
The Alliance of Canadian Defence Companies (ACDC), which officially launched today, aims to lobby the federal government on behalf of domestic defence businesses while also fostering greater collaboration across the country’s defence supply chain.
In interviews with BetaKit, ACDC co-chairs Eliot Pence and Paul Ziadé said that the organization will advocate for faster defence procurement and more contracts for Canadian companies, two key pillars in the feds’ major defence spending plans.
Pence is also the founder and CEO of Ottawa-based Dominion Dynamics, while Ziadé is co-founder and CEO of Calgary’s North Vector Dynamics. ACDC’s other founding members include the Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation, Canada Rocket Company, Cybeats, The Icebreaker, NordSpace, One9, and Reaction Dynamics, among others.
The launch of ACDC comes as the feds gear up to pour billions into shoring up Canada’s sovereign military capabilities and building a “robust” defence industrial base after decades of underinvestment, as the country looks to reduce its reliance on the United States.
Pence said he is “immensely excited” by these commitments, arguing that they have created a “fundamental inflection point” for Canadian defence. But he described the country’s big defence targets as “unobtainable [without] a clear voice from Canadian-owned, Canadian-controlled businesses.” Enter ACDC.
Ziadé acknowledged that Canada is already home to regional trade groups focused on defence, as well as the longstanding Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), host of the annual CANSEC trade show in Ottawa. CADSI represents more than 900 defence, security, and cybersecurity companies, from Canadian small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to large multinationals. Ziadé said he does not see ACDC as a competitor.
RELATED: “The world has changed”: Canada’s new Defence Industrial Strategy aims to reduce US dependency
“This is not the play here—they’ve played a very important role in the Canadian defence ecosystem,” Ziadé said. “But as Canadian builders collaborating with other Canadian-owned SMBs, we heard that there’s this widespread sentiment that our voices were not being represented by these other organizations.”
Ziadé said ACDC hopes to amplify the voices of Canadian defence SMBs to ensure they “get a fair shot in this defence renaissance.” While ACDC’s focus is not exclusively on SMBs, most of its founding members fall into this category.
As it stands, Pence said ACDC consists of a “pretty informal” Signal group where members chat and exchange ideas. Ziadé anticipates organizing “Hill Days” for ACDC members to connect with government officials and events around existing trade shows.
One of ACDC’s secondary goals is to encourage more local defence firms to work together, which it hopes to do partly through Dominion’s new Aurion platform. Aurion is designed to help other Canadian defence firms understand the complex procurement landscape and team up on bids.
Feature image courtesy Alliance of Canadian Defence Companies.