To close out 2025, BetaKit reporter Josh Scott wrote about how the tens of billions in new federal commitments to defence were poised to reshape Canadian tech.
Economically, that was the plan all along. A new note this week from TD economists broke down Canadaâs recent embrace of Military Keynesianism, which ârests on the idea that defence R&D and procurement can spur innovation (raising productivity), and generate positive spillovers to civilian industries through fiscal multipliers.â
Essentially, in the proverbial choice between guns or butter, placing priority on the former will deliver the capacity to acquire both. TD notes that Canada might receive an additional productivity boost if its propensity for dual-use tech is properly nurtured.
Testing the efficacy of this economic theory requires the capital to flow, however, and spending delays have been a hallmark of Canadian defence policy, as TD also notes. The feds also missed their own self-imposed deadline to release the highly anticipated Defence Industrial Strategy, which has led former assistant deputy ministers to say all sorts of mean things about what that failure signals to other countries.
But Canadian tech doesnât appear to be waiting around for new marching orders. Below, youâll find stories about Cohere partnering with a German submarine maker, the launch of a new Calgary-based aerospace innovation hub, and the launch of a new Canadian rocket company. Youâll see more defence tech stories on BetaKit soon, including on former defence minister Harjit Sajjan’s new startup, Juno, and the startups we met at the celebration for BetaKitâs new Prairies Bureau, graciously hosted by Edmonton Unlimited.
In pursuit of profit, glory, and perhaps continued sovereignty, Canadaâs builders are ready to get building. Is the federal government ready to back the defence tech industry it asked for?
Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief
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Hootsuite could receive up to $2.8 million USD for assisting US immigration enforcement
Years after scrapping a contract with ICE, Vancouver-based Hootsuite is providing its social media management and monitoring technology to the US Department of Homeland Security at a time when DHS is facing criticism over its violent immigration enforcement tactics.
Shopify leans into agentic commerce with Google and Microsoft deals
The Ottawa e-commerce giant has co-developed a new open standard for AI agent-based shopping with Google, partnered with Google and Microsoft to help consumers find and buy its merchantsâ offerings more easily through their chatbots, and is launching a new customer plan to expand its product catalogue to non-clients.
Interrogating AI
- QuĂ©bec research institute Mila is making mental health safeguards for AI chatbots a top priority as cases of âAI psychosisâ mount worldwide.Â
- AI will make things better for workers, but only if productivity translates into time, not just profit, Joe O’Connor and Jared Lindzon argue in an excerpt from ‘Do More in Four: Why Itâs Time for a Shorter Workweek.âÂ
- In an op-ed for BetaKit, corporate lawyer Joshua van Es challenges what Canadaâs AI strategy gets wrong about sovereignty.
Hacks on, hacks off: How one coding dojo is preparing kids for the AI world
A coding âdojoâ in Ottawaâs west end has launched an AI curriculum to train its young grasshoppers about AI safety, and teach them the skills they need to code without AI.
âItâs important for us as a society to kind of teach the kids how [AI] works and how to use it responsibly,â Code Ninjas Kanata co-owner Ian Chan told BetaKit.
This week in Canadian gaming
- After Ubisoft shut down its Halifax studio less than a month after its staff unionized, the workersâ union is demanding that the company prove financial troubles were behind the closure.
- MĂ©tis game developer Josh Nilson has built a virtual world in Roblox where gamers learn the Michif language through play and community.
- Registration is now open for operators looking to be a part of Albertaâs soon-to-launch, licensed private online gambling market.
Helcim takes aim at âwalled-offâ payment systems with new extension
Helcim founder and CEO Nic Beique wants to put businesses in control of their financial transactions. This week, Helcim launched Helcim Payment Extension to help them do just that.
Nine Canadian companies make the 2026 Global Cleantech 100
The Global Cleantech 100 showcases private cleantech companies that a panel of experts predict will make a substantial impact on the market in the next five to 10 years.
While the number of Canadian companies on the list held steady year-over-year, there has been some turnover.
Aerospace and DefenceÂ
- Calgaryâs new Aerospace Innovation Hub aims to turn talent and capital into scale for more than 180 companies, and help at least a dozen new startups get on their feet.
- Cohere has struck a partnership with German submarine maker TKMS to explore integrating its AI tech into Canadaâs potential future fleet.
- Toronto-based Kepler successfully deployed its first wave of orbital data centre satellites last Sunday, beating out similar projects from Amazon and Starlink.
- Canada Rocket Company emerged from stealth this week with $6.2 million from all-Canadian backers, and a plan to give Canada sovereign rocket capabilities.Â
ITC says Canadaâs largest Indigenous tech conference aims to break down silos
The Indigenous Tech Circle is hosting its first Indigenous Tech Conference on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21 at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel.
The inaugural conference is expected to bring together more than 250 Indigenous founders, tech professionals, investors, community partners, allies, and policymakers, which ITC says would make the conference Canadaâs largest gathering dedicated to Indigenous folks in tech.
FEATURED STORIES FROM OUR PARTNERS
Made from scratch: Toronto tech leaders reflect on 10 years of building Uber Eats
From a lunchtime experiment to a billion-order business, Toronto played a defining role in building Uber Eats. How local leadership, rapid experimentation, and moments of crisis helped turn a scrappy idea into Canadaâs leading delivery platform.
A smarter, safer way to run AI? Vancouverâs LĆD Technologies is betting on it
As enterprises struggle to balance AI cost, performance, and compliance, Vancouver-based LĆD Technologies is betting control is the key to adoption. How the startupâs new CLĆD platform tackles governance and energy efficiency at the inference layer.
How AI can help make SR&ED filing painless
Filing for SR&ED credits doesnât have to take months. How MontrĂ©al-based Chrono Innovation is using agentic AI to help engineering teams turn complex documentation into a faster, more predictable process.
đšđŠ Weekly Canadian Deals, Dollars & More
- VIC –Â Blue Action opens applications to oceantech accelerator
- VAN – Slate raises $1.3M to build embedded lending infrastructure
- DLA – Mangrove Lithium secures $85M USD financing
- SK – Saskatchewan accelerators invest nearly $2.2M in Prairies tech
- KW – Miovision partners with TomTom to tackle traffic congestion
- TOR – Science&Humans raises $10M for hormone health
- TOR – MedEssist secures seed round to convert pharmacies to clinics
- TOR – Portage strikes deal to manage Point72 Venturesâ FinTech assets
- TOR – Sequence acquired by Polygon in stablecoin push
- TOR – 1Password promotes Nancy Wang to CTO
- MTL – Goodfoodâs safe food licence reinstated
- MTL – Ssense founders nearing company buyback
- STJ – Medventions launches pilot hospital fellowship in Newfoundland
The BetaKit Podcast â The Canadian company solving AIâs latency problem
“How do I create the âwowâ moment for my end user? And slowness never creates the wow moment.”
PolarGrid founder and CEO Rade Kovacevic believes GenAI video and voice will be killer apps once they can function in real-time. Enabling real-time GenAI requires uncorking the inference bottleneck that the hyperscalers have helped build.
Take The BetaKit Quiz â A famous catchphrase, Ubisoftâs surprise closure, and Salesforceâs original vision
Think youâre on top of Canadian tech and innovation news? Time to prove it. Test your knowledge of Canadian tech news with The BetaKit Quiz for January 16, 2026.
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Feature image courtesy Nick Linnen via Unsplash.