The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has announced new partnerships and renewed existing agreements with six organizations supporting defence and dual-use companies. The federal Crown corporation unveiled the partnerships on 7 October at DEFSEC Atlantic in Halifax.
The partnerships cover Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario and are intended to help firms test their technologies, navigate procurement processes, reach potential customers and expand their businesses. Peter Dawe, BDC’s senior vice-president of defence strategy, said “Canada has no shortage of defence innovation. The challenge is helping great technologies and products reach customers and scale.”
In Atlantic Canada, BDC is working with Vimy Forge, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation to support the second cohort of Vimy Forge’s national defence technology accelerator. The cohort is due to launch in winter 2027.
Companies taking part in the accelerator would receive mentorship and gain connections to defence stakeholders, investors and industry experts. Duncan McSporran, Vimy Forge’s managing director, said entrepreneurs often require “help bridging the gap between innovation and market adoption.”
Fredericton–Oromocto MP David Myles, speaking on behalf of the minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, said the support would help companies take promising technologies to market. He said collaboration with Vimy Forge, BDC and the Government of New Brunswick would strengthen the defence innovation ecosystem.
In Quebec and Ontario, BDC renewed its backing for Creative Destruction Lab’s Defence, Critical Minerals and Climate streams while adding support for its new Space stream. BDC is a founding partner of Area X.O’s Commercialization Acceleration Program at Invest Ottawa and a founding member of the Ontario Defence Association.
BDC also identified NexDev’s InnoSécur Innovation and Research Hub, which provides testing facilities and expertise to land defence and security companies. Through Naval Quebec, small and medium-sized businesses in Quebec’s shipbuilding sector will gain access to financing, advisory expertise and industry networks.
The agreements sit alongside BDC’s $6 billion Defence Platform. In September, BDC announced plans to deploy $500 million through funds targeting defence and dual-use technologies and increase its StrongNorth venture fund from $300 million to $500 million. StrongNorth makes direct investments in early-stage companies in fields including artificial intelligence, autonomy, cyber, secure communications, space and surveillance.
The fund program’s first investment went to Intrepid Growth Partners’ inaugural US$525 million fund, which supports artificial intelligence companies.
Later in September, BDC joined the investor network associated with DIANA, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) dual-use technology accelerator, as its first Canadian member. The NATO DIANA Capital Network connects trusted investors across the alliance’s 32 members. COVE and Communitech operate DIANA’s Canadian accelerator sites.
At the same exhibition, a Defence Investment Agency official said earlier rules had prevented Canada’s Crown lenders from entering defence, and that BDC and Export Development Canada had since moved into the sector. She said the agency’s new investment powers under Bill C-40, tabled on 6 October, would be worked out with both lenders.
BDC says the partnerships aim to accelerate companies’ progress from innovation to commercialization. Vimy Forge’s second accelerator cohort is scheduled to start in winter 2027.
Related coverage: For the September fund allocations, see BDC allocates $700 million to defence funds and StrongNorth. The proposed Crown corporation structure is covered in Bill C-40 would let the Defence Investment Agency make loans and buy shares.