Canadian tech companies are increasingly asking whether products built for commercial use could also serve defence and national security needs.
If the answer is yes, the question becomes ‘where to begin?’
DIGITAL, one of Canada’s five federally funded Global Innovation Clusters, has been fielding that question from founders with increasing frequency. In response, the Vancouver-based organization launched its Defence Market Access Series, a national webinar program designed to help commercial tech companies understand how Canada’s defence ecosystem works.
Nadia Shaikh-Naeem,
“If you want to go into the defence market, you’re going to have to be patient, and you’re going to have to think through what it’s going to mean for your organization.”
DIGITAL
“It isn’t easy to manage two markets, and the defence market is a demanding one,” said Nadia Shaikh-Naeem, Chief Programs Officer at DIGITAL. “It requires a significant amount of security. It requires a significant amount of capacity within the organization [and] strategic focus.”
The series arrives as Canada directs new attention and investment toward its defence industrial base. The federal government’s renewed focus on defence—chiefly through its $6.6-billion Defence Industrial Strategy—has created an opening for companies working in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity, healthtech, and more. It has also exposed how unfamiliar many commercial tech founders are with this market.
“The webinar series is a culmination of us going out and listening to all of our members, listening to all the questions that they had, and really realizing that there’s a [knowledge] gap,” Shaikh-Naeem added.
Companies enter the sector by selling directly to the government, partnering with a major contractor, or joining a partnership. Each route has its own procurement process, security requirements, integration demands, and timelines. Just obtaining the appropriate security clearance can take 18 months or more, Shaikh-Naeem said, which creates a practical challenge for smaller companies with limited runway.
The sessions covered in DIGITAL’s Defence Market Access Series span procurement, funding, intellectual property, partnerships, working with prime contractors, and learning the culture of the defence industry.
According to DIGITAL Chief Operating Officer Elysa Darling, more than 550 people from across Canada have tuned in so far. She said the goal of the series was to convene a diverse group of domain experts to ensure that builders and buyers are speaking the same language.
“Anytime you’re trying to do something brand new, the path is genuinely confusing,” Darling added. While the webinars go deep on a wide range of topics, she wants founders to walk away with one message: “Persevere.”
Defence is a market with its own culture and expectations. Founders need to understand the role of prime contractors, how procurement programs work, and how policies like the Industrial and Technological Benefits can create openings for suppliers.
“If you want to go into the defence market, you’re going to have to be patient, and you’re going to have to think through what it’s going to mean for your organization,” added Shaikh-Naeem.
When evaluating a potential dual-use project, DIGITAL first considers whether the technology addresses a clearly defined need in a commercial, defence, security, or resilience context. It then looks at technical maturity, commercial validation, scalability, domestic talent, and whether credible partners can help move the technology toward adoption.
“The technology may have an obvious defence relevance, but companies still need to understand procurement requirements,” Darling said. “They need to understand integration challenges, market access, and the realities of working with government or defence customers, which a lot of our companies don’t have.”
DIGITAL has identified roughly 60 completed or active projects in its portfolio that either have defence applications or are exploring them. One example comes from Lethbridge, Alberta-based Verge Ag, which worked with DIGITAL to develop path-planning technology for agricultural machinery. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the company adapted its technology to support Ukrainian farmers operating in hazardous terrain.
“We built Path Planner to help farmers plan safer, more efficient field operations, and did not initially expect the same technology could support route planning around conflict-related hazards in Ukraine,” Godard, CEO and co-founder of Verge Ag said in a statement.
Godard said having a partner that can help connect the dots is crucial for companies transitioning from a civilian use case to a defence application.
“That’s the role DIGITAL plays for us, and it’s exactly why webinar series like this one matter,” he added. “Most companies don’t know what the path into defence looks like, or who the right partners are. DIGITAL is helping make that path visible for the rest of the ecosystem.”
DIGITAL has also supported a project led by Québec-based Ova.ai, which created AI-enabled immersive training spaces specifically for the aerospace and naval industries.
“The line between civilian and defence readiness is thinner than people think.”
Another project led by Toronto-based Lumeto is using virtual reality technology to train military medics for high-stress environments. Eyal Kleiner, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Lumeto, said the company’s training simulation technology can prepare nurses for work in civilian roles, but also as a combat medic in the field.
“The underlying need is the same: improving and scaling training so frontline health professionals are prepared to perform when it matters most,” Kleiner said. “That’s the heart of dual-use technology, and it’s exactly the kind of ecosystem collaboration Canada needs more of right now.”
Lumeto’s simulations include scenarios that mimic the intensity of actual combat zones, including AI-based virtual patients who respond like real people.
“The line between civilian and defence readiness is thinner than people think,” Kleiner said in a statement. “Our platforms were built to train healthcare teams, but the same tools are directly relevant to military and emergency response training. DIGITAL’s webinar series is helping more of the ecosystem see that connection.”
DIGITAL operates from a unique position to support these projects. The organization is both funded by and closely connected to the federal government.
“We are able to translate some of what’s coming down the pipe in the federal government to our industry members,” Darling said. “We’re acting as that connective tissue between industry and government, and private and public.”
At the same time, DIGITAL is technologically horizontal, which means it can help firms developing a vast array of technologies—including AI, digital twins, and advanced analytics —test their solutions in real operating environments, including healthcare, mining, and energy, among others.
The projects DIGITAL has funded throughout its history have generated $786 million in investment, contributed $4 billion in gross domestic product growth, and helped participating companies raise close to $1.4 billion in follow-on capital.
DIGITAL believes its consortium model can help close the gap between dual-use potential and commercial adoption. Its projects bring together a tech company, an actual customer, and often a post-secondary or research institution. “We always say that the two best forms of revenue are non-dilutive capital and revenue from a customer,” Darling said. “Those are the two key elements, and we provide both of those.”
Shaikh-Naeem said DIGITAL’s model can also reduce risk for defence customers and prime contractors by giving buyers an early role in evaluating the technology, while smaller companies get feedback on integration, performance, and market fit.
Darling and Shaikh-Naeem both believe the defence opportunity for Canadian companies is substantial, but accessing it requires patience, preparation, and a clear understanding of how the market works. DIGITAL’s Defence Market Access Series is intended to give founders a first step in that preparation.
“We have some of the most innovative, interesting technologies coming out of Canada,” Darling said. “They just need a market. I think that Canadians are ready to seize that opportunity.”
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Canada’s defence market is opening – and it’s looking for companies like yours. DIGITAL’s Defence Market Access Series runs June through November 2026. Register for the next session on August 20 at 10:00 a.m. now.
Feature image courtesy Adobe.