Canada’s public procurement data for late 2025 tells a clear story: defence is where activity is concentrated, and the pattern is structured rather than random.

Between July and December 2025, 1,221 defence-related opportunities came to market. The Defence Investment Agency (DIA) has moved from concept to a visible portfolio. Large contracts in aerospace and Arctic communications are progressing, while DRDC is building out AI- and cyber-related work.

This article draws on publicly available Government of Canada procurement data and on reporting from the 16 December 2025 GovConWeekly “Canadian Procurement Pulse” edition (including the Q3–Q4 2025 Activity Report). ASSIG’s contribution is to reframe that information through a defence supplier readiness lens: what the numbers mean for organisations that want to credibly participate in this environment.

For suppliers, the question isn’t whether there is demand. The question is whether they are ready for the way demand is now being structured and evaluated.

1. The Numbers: 1,221 Opportunities and a Clear Centre of Gravity

Across Q3 and Q4 2025, three organisations dominated defence-related procurement.

Defence opportunities by organisation (Q3–Q4 2025)

Organisation	Opportunities (Q3–Q4)	Share of Defence Activity
Department of National Defence (DND)	1,105	90.5%
Defence Construction Canada (DCC)	98	8.0%
Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC)	18	1.5%
Total	1,221	100%

Source: Government of Canada procurement data (Q3–Q4 2025), as compiled in GovConWeekly (16 Dec 2025) and re-analysed by ASSIG.

Opportunities by type (all defence organisations, Q3–Q4 2025)

Category	Opportunities	Share of Total
Goods	614	50.3%
Services	544	44.5%
Construction	63	5.2%
Total	1,221	100%

Source: Government of Canada procurement data (Q3–Q4 2025), as compiled in GovConWeekly (16 Dec 2025) and re-analysed by ASSIG.

Q4 volumes were 48.7 percent higher than Q3, with November the busiest month, followed by October and September.

From a readiness perspective:

• The market is heavily centred on DND, with DCC and DRDC as smaller but strategically important actors.
• Goods and services are almost evenly split, reflecting opportunities across platforms, sustainment, and knowledge-based work.
• The Q4 spike reflects year-end budget execution, but the underlying programmes are recurring and predictable rather than one-off.

2. How the DIA Is Reshaping the Environment

While the volume data sits with DND, DCC, and DRDC, the most important structural change is the emergence of the Defence Investment Agency as the focal point for major capability investments.

Parliamentary records and public reporting indicate that the DIA’s initial portfolio (projects above 100 million) includes:

• A new submarine fleet for the Royal Canadian Navy
• Arctic over-the-horizon radar
• An early warning and control surveillance aircraft fleet
• In-service support and software upgrades for CC-130J Hercules aircraft
• Satellite communications investments linked to polar communications (ESCP-P)
• Additional strategic acquisitions with details still classified

The DIA’s design is straightforward: a single, empowered body to manage large, politically visible investments in capability.

From a supplier readiness standpoint, this changes expectations:

• Centralised decision-making: Approval chains are shorter, enabling compressed timelines on major projects.
• Portfolio-level view: Cost, schedule, risk, and industrial benefits are being considered across a portfolio, not just at the level of a single RFP.
• Earlier scrutiny: Industry is being engaged earlier, which means claims about capacity, risk management, and domestic impact will be tested sooner.

For companies that want to operate in the DIA portfolio space, the requirement goes beyond being “defence adjacent”. They need to demonstrate that their internal governance, processes, and partnerships can withstand portfolio-level scrutiny.

3. Where Demand Is Steady vs Emerging

3.1 Stable, Predictable Demand Streams

Several areas show consistent, repeatable patterns rather than isolated spikes.

Vehicle fleets

GovConWeekly’s data compilation highlights two anchors in Q3–Q4:

• Common Heavy Equipment Replacement (CHER):
  Multiple bundles were released in August and September, signalling a coordinated refresh cycle across heavy equipment.
• Light Utility Vehicle Wheeled (LUVW):
  Q4 opportunities focused on sustainment and overhaul—engines, alternators, starters, transmissions, axles, containers, and brake shoes.

From an ASSIG readiness perspective, this is what a mature maintenance cycle looks like in the data: a structured series of opportunities around the same fleet, each requiring specific components, repair capabilities, and logistics discipline.

Naval sustainment

Recurring requirements for Halifax-class and Victoria-class platforms included:

• Spares such as valves, filters, pumps, and hoses
• More specialised items such as a Naval ROV system, controllable pitch propellers, and torpedo handling equipment

These patterns reflect known sustainment needs on ageing fleets, where suppliers that can reliably deliver to specification and schedule become long-term partners.

Base and radar infrastructure (DCC)

DCC’s 98 contracts over the period were mostly focused on planning and early works:

• Infrastructure for Arctic over-the-horizon radar
• Modernisation of tactical control radar facilities
• Health centres at bases such as CFB Bagotville
• Facilities for Armoured Combat Support Vehicles in Edmonton
• A new hangar for 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron

For construction and engineering firms, these early-stage awards are leading indicators of larger construction packages 12–24 months out.

3.2 Emerging, High-Leverage Areas

DRDC: AI, cyber, and advanced testing

DRDC’s 18 opportunities over Q3–Q4, as highlighted in GovConWeekly’s activity report, concentrate on:

• AI-enabled software development
• Software reverse engineering for IoT firmware
• EMC shielded test enclosures
• Advanced sonar and quantum optics lab equipment

The volumes are smaller, but these lines point clearly to future capability gaps and expectations: AI, cyber security, sensing, and test infrastructure are becoming embedded in defence R&D and evaluation.

Arctic communications and space (ESCP-P)

Under DIA leadership, Telesat and MDA Space have received an initial 2.92 million for engineering and options analysis under the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project – Polar (ESCP-P).

Key signals:

• Arctic sovereignty and secure satellite communications are long-horizon themes, not one-off initiatives.
• ESCP-P’s structure relies on strategic partnerships and Industrial and Technological Benefits, making space for SMEs within prime-led architectures.

For niche technology providers in antennas, ground systems, terminals, or supporting software, these early contracts are the front end of a multi-year opportunity stream.

4. Industrial Benefits, Accessibility, and ESG: What Buyers Are Signalling

Several moves across defence and civil procurement point in the same direction: industrial and social outcomes are being treated as core criteria, not peripheral add-ons.

Fighter jets and industrial leverage

The federal government is reviewing its 2022 decision to purchase 88 F-35 aircraft, focusing on whether the approximately 19 billion acquisition delivers sufficient domestic economic impact. Saab’s alternative Gripen proposal, with a build-in-Canada concept and ambitious employment claims, has drawn media attention.

The core signal for suppliers:

• Ottawa is prepared to revisit high-profile decisions and apply pressure on industrial benefits.
• Large platform suppliers can expect more demanding expectations on jobs, technology transfer, and regional development, with public scrutiny.

CMHC and accessibility in procurement

In the civil space, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has updated its procurement directive to embed accessibility:

• Every procurement must either define accessibility requirements or document why they do not apply.
• New templates and checklists will standardise how accessibility is considered and evaluated, with implementation targeted by the end of 2027.
• The directive connects to CMHC’s Vendor Diversity Programme, including businesses owned by people with disabilities.

This is a concrete example of social objectives moving directly into procurement mechanics. Similar approaches are likely to appear in other federal entities over time, including those with defence or security portfolios.

Bombardier’s 753M contract: domestic capability and ESG

Bombardier’s 753 million contract to supply six Global 6500 aircraft to the Royal Canadian Air Force, awarded through a DIA-led process, illustrates:

• The use of a Canadian-built platform to close a defined capability gap.
• An expected impact of more than 900 direct and indirect jobs, primarily in Quebec and Ontario.
• Sustainability and environmental considerations, including alternative fuels, as explicit evaluation factors.

Taken together—the F-35 review, CMHC’s directive, ESCP-P’s ITB framework, and the Bombardier award—the direction is clear: industrial benefits, accessibility, and ESG considerations are central to procurement outcomes.

5. What a Defence-Ready Supplier Looks Like in This Environment

ASSIG’s lens is straightforward: defence-ready suppliers are those that can demonstrate credible readiness across technical, organisational, compliance, and communications dimensions.

Based on the current Canadian picture, those suppliers tend to show:

1. Programme alignment

• Clear mapping of offerings to specific programmes (CHER, LUVW, Halifax/Victoria sustainment, Arctic radar, ESCP-P, base infrastructure, DRDC AI/cyber lines).
• An explicit understanding of their place in the value chain: prime, subsystem provider, component specialist, or niche services partner.

2. Organisational and process maturity

• Documented quality, risk, and configuration management systems.
• Evidence of ability to manage security requirements, export controls, and data governance.

3. Industrial and social impact credibility

• Concrete, defensible industrial benefit narratives: workforce, skills, technology, and regional contribution.
• Practical approaches to accessibility, diversity, and sustainability that can be translated into bid content and contract performance.

4. Partnership discipline

• Realistic teaming strategies with primes and other suppliers, particularly around DIA portfolio projects and Arctic communications.
• Clear roles, interfaces, and governance arrangements that major buyers can understand and rely on.

6. Heading Into 2026: Opportunity vs Readiness

The second half of 2025 looks very different from a random uptick:

• Defence activity is sustained and largely programme-based.
• DIA-led portfolios in submarines, Arctic radar, surveillance aircraft, and satellite communications are likely to shape supply chains for a decade.
• Industrial benefits, accessibility, and ESG criteria are tightening across both defence and civil portfolios.
• Emerging tech work in AI, cyber, sensing, and test infrastructure, highlighted in DRDC’s activity, points clearly to future expectations of suppliers.

GovConWeekly’s 16 December 2025 reporting provides a valuable snapshot of this environment. ASSIG’s view is that the decisive factor for suppliers is readiness, not interest.

For firms already inside defence supply chains and those in adjacent sectors with relevant capabilities, the task is the same: build and evidence the organisational, technical, and compliance foundations that large buyers now expect—and use that readiness to engage with specific, programme-level opportunities rather than “defence” in the abstract.