Goodbye, weapons: Ottawa invests billions of dollars in the development of the military-industrial complex

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that over the next ten years, Ottawa will invest about 500 billion Canadian dollars in weapons production. A key commitment of the new strategy was to increase the share of defense purchases within the country from 30% to 70%. These actions are aimed at reducing the dependence of the military-industrial complex (MIC) of the state on American contractors. Why Canada began to "burn bridges" with the United States and how its foreign policy course will change — in the Izvestia article.

A new perspective on the problem

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Ottawa plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the country's defense industry as part of a strategy aimed at eliminating US weapons. This was reported by Bloomberg.

"Over the past decades, Canada has not spent enough on defense and has not invested in the defense industry. We relied too much on our geographical location and other factors to protect ourselves. This has led to vulnerabilities and dependencies that we can no longer support," he stressed.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney

Photo: TASS/Jacques Boissinot

Initially, Carney announced an increase in spending under pressure from Donald Trump, however, after the deterioration of relations between the states, Ottawa's course changed. According to the plan, the share of defense arms purchases from domestic manufacturers should increase from 30% to 70%. Analysts predict that this will increase revenues of the Canadian military-industrial complex by 240% and create 125,000 new jobs over the next decade.

According to the Prime Minister, over the next ten years, Ottawa will spend more than 470 billion Canadian dollars on the development of the domestic military-industrial complex, which is approximately equivalent to $340 billion. This amount includes 180 billion directly for military purchases and 290 billion for defense infrastructure.

Carney's plan calls for a 50% increase in Canadian arms exports and an 85% increase in funding for military research and development (R&D). The strategy pays special attention to the Arctic: the region is under the close attention of the armed forces of the state. Earlier, The War Zone portal noted that Canada wants to purchase more than 250 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to protect the northern territories and improve the existing stock of Leopard 2 tanks. The program is scheduled to be implemented from 2029 to 2031.

Ottawa also intends to reconsider the decision to purchase American F-35 fighter jets: instead of the previously announced 88, the authorities want to limit themselves to 16 aircraft. The rest of the fleet can be made up of Swedish Gripen E fighters, which Saab intends to assemble together with Canadian Bombardier.

Photo: TASS/Zuma

Canada is also considering purchasing 12 diesel-electric submarines from South Korean company Hanwha Ocean and German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), The New York Times reports.

Hanwha Ocean has already signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Canadian Ontario Shipyards. The purpose of the agreement was to accelerate the return of large-scale shipbuilding to Ontario and strengthen Ottawa's ability to implement future naval programs. A South Korean corporation will invest $250 million in the construction of a steel mill in Canada.

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The roots of the Carney Plan

Experts note that historically, Ottawa has purchased about 70-75% of weapons from Washington. Canada's position has hardened recently due to political and trade disputes.

Upon assuming the post of prime minister in March last year, Carney promised to increase the state's military spending to the level of the Korean War. In June 2025, he invested $9.3 billion Canadian dollars (about $7 billion) in the Canadian armed forces to ensure a minimum level of NATO spending of 2% of gross domestic product. Later, Ottawa agreed to raise spending on weapons to the new NATO target of 5% of GDP by 2035.

Photo: Global Look Press/Bayne Stanley

Mark Carney decided to reform the military-industrial complex because of foreign policy games, which, among other things, are supported by the Trump administration, military expert Boris Jerelievsky told Izvestia. However, the capabilities of the country's military-industrial complex are not as good as the authorities would like: dependence on European and American purchases forces the state to actually build an industry from scratch.

— Canadians have experience in the production of small arms and light armored vehicles, but now they will have to create almost the entire military-industrial complex anew. Ottawa bought weapons from Europe and the United States, but due to the aggressive policy of the United States, American weapons became dominant. This harsh strategy, which began before Trump's first term, is aimed at ousting US allies from the global arms market. NATO's capabilities were used to impose the purchase of American weapons on alliance members, including Canada," the expert stated.

Snow storm

Tension between the United States and Canada is growing in all areas. Due to Ottawa's desire to protect Greenland from "American interference," the situation with the Golden Dome, a missile defense shield project proposed by the US leadership, has also escalated. It is designed to protect the entire North America from ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles. According to the statement of the American leader Donald Trump, Canada refused to build a missile defense system over the autonomous territory of the Danish Kingdom.

"Canada is against the construction of the Golden Dome over Greenland, although the Golden Dome would protect Canada as well. Instead, they voted to do business with China, which will "eat them up" within the first year!" the head of the White House wrote on the Truth Social network.

Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS

In January, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Donald Trump ruled out seizing the Arctic island by force and concluded a framework agreement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Under the terms of the deal, part of the future American Golden Dome missile defense system will be deployed in Greenland. The first tests are scheduled for 2028.

Ottawa has already managed to develop a model of Washington's hypothetical military invasion of the sovereign territory of the state. At the same time, cooperation between Canada and the United States in the construction of the Golden Dome continental missile defense system is still ongoing. If the Canadian government does not agree to the deployment of American weapons in the country, the plan of the United States leadership may be in jeopardy, American political scientist Malek Dudakov admitted.

— Canada may reconsider its participation in Trump's Golden Dome program. Washington is going to spend a lot of money on building a missile defense system, but it also needs Ottawa's support to deploy all the necessary equipment, tracking systems and American bases. If the Canadians refuse the Americans, then the latter will not be able to implement the plan," the expert explained.

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The light of the rising sun

Relations between Washington and Ottawa have also been strained by the recent energy deal between Canada and China. The countries agreed to strengthen cooperation in the field of alternative and traditional energy sources. Also in January, Beijing and Ottawa agreed on an economic "strategic partnership." As part of the agreement, Carney allowed almost 50,000 electric vehicles to be imported into Canada at a low customs duty rate. Prior to that, the country had a 100% duty on cars from China, introduced back in 2024. In response to the easing, Beijing reduced duties on rapeseed seeds.

Photo: TASS/Kirill Kukhmar

The cooperation between Canada and China worries Donald Trump and his administration. Earlier, the American leader, sensing a "threat" from China, promised to impose duties of 100% against Ottawa if it did conclude a trade deal with Beijing. However, Malek Dudakov believes that Washington's tariffs will not affect Canadian trade in the United States in any way, and, moreover, they may harm the United States market.

— Mark Carney, unlike Justin Trudeau, is not in the mood to negotiate amicably with the Americans. On the contrary, he is pushing hard for Canada's interests. For example, a big deal in defiance of the United States "dropped" the share of Ottawa's trade with Washington to two-thirds. <...> Although Trump is threatening Canada with new tariffs, it should be understood that more than 90% of goods enter the American market under the USMCA agreement, meaning these duties will not directly affect them," the source concluded.

Thus, according to experts, Canada is trying its best to block the policy of the United States. Washington feels this and is therefore trying to threaten Ottawa with tariff duties, forcible seizure and other measures. In the end, US policy has led to the fact that the Trump team is losing its initiative and influence in the processes that it itself launched.