Montreal-headquartered AtkinsRéalis and DRAKKAR Group signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 7 October to examine opportunities to work together on Canadian defence programs. The signing took place at the Québec Pavilion during DEFSEC Atlantic in Halifax, with Investissement Québec in attendance.
Covering the air, land and maritime domains, the MoU spans acquisition, modernization, mobilization, in-service support and long-term sustainment for defence platforms, systems and infrastructure. The firms say their combined capabilities could underpin a Canadian lifecycle-delivery model, bringing engineering and program integration together with maintenance, logistics, manufacturing and operational capacity.
The companies are presenting the partnership as a Canadian team for foreign prime contractors that need Canadian content on platforms Ottawa purchases abroad. Released in February 2026, Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy positions Canadian industry to access C$180 billion in defence procurement opportunities and C$290 billion in defence-related capital investment opportunities over the next 10 years. It also sets a target of increasing Canadian defence exports by 50%.
AtkinsRéalis contributes engineering, systems integration, program management, and operations and maintenance expertise. The company has ranked among Defence Construction Canada’s top five suppliers over the last five years and has a presence on most Canadian military bases. It previously maintained the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) minor warships and auxiliary vessels and supports the UK-led Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), which Canada plans to join as an observer.
Privately owned DRAKKAR has more than 2,200 employees across affiliates organized around maintenance, manufacturing, and logistics and supply chain. Its Avianor affiliate in Mirabel, Quebec, has roughly three decades of commercial and military aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul experience, backed by 250,000 square feet of hangars, repair shops and warehouses. DRAKKAR’s work in Mirabel includes heavy and line maintenance, cabin integration, mobile repair services and ground handling.
The group’s logistics business provides warehousing, inventory management, kit preparation, freight and transportation across North America. Its manufacturing services encompass production engineering, assembly, retrofit and field services. DRAKKAR affiliates are registered in Canada’s Controlled Goods Program and hold facility security clearances.
Stéphanie Vaillancourt, president of AtkinsRéalis Canada, said the companies’ combined capabilities would support defence programs “from acquisition and modernization through long-term sustainment”. DRAKKAR president and chief executive officer Benoit Hudon said partnerships among Canadian companies with existing capability, infrastructure and workforces are essential to Canada’s defence industrial capacity. He also described conditions as particularly favourable for growth in Canadian defence markets.
The announcement comes after AtkinsRéalis’s April 2026 agreement with South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean to explore submarine capability, Canadian industrial development and long-term support. That agreement highlighted the company’s more than 27 years of work with Rolls-Royce Submarines, as well as its UK appointments supporting the trilateral Australia–United Kingdom–United States (AUKUS) submarine program.
In July, Ottawa named Germany’s TKMS as the preferred supplier for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project. Hanwha remains in reserve in the event that negotiations with TKMS fail.
The MoU is non-binding and identifies no specific programs, contracts or dollar values. Potential areas of joint work include fleet sustainment, defence aviation support, supply-chain solutions, platform modernization, Arctic mobility and knowledge transfer.