Canada’s defence build-up and the new M&A playbook

Canada’s accelerated defence spending, procurement reform and emphasis on sovereign industrial capacity are reshaping the domestic M&A market. For buyers, investors and portfolio companies, the opportunity is significant, particularly in dual-use technology, aerospace, cybersecurity, digital infrastructure and supply chain assets. At the same time, defence-related transactions require early attention to national security review, procurement eligibility, security clearances, export controls, controlled goods compliance, sanctions and broader supply chain enforcement risk. In practice, the most successful transactions will be those that combine commercial discipline with regulatory readiness from the outset.

Canada has officially hit the 2% NATO spending benchmark as of March 2026 and is firmly committed to NATO’s Defence Investment Pledge of 5% of GDP by 2035.This increase in defence-related spending includes a focus on dual-use technologies, as shown by the recently announced $200-million investment for a Canadian-owned spaceport in Nova Scotia. These investments, coupled with changes to the government procurement process and Canada’s new membership in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative, create new opportunities in the Canadian M&A landscape and raise several key considerations.

Read our article on this topic available on Osler’s website.

This content has been updated on May 25, 2026 at 11 h 53 min.