The Department of National Defence (DND) is bringing Canadian-built artificial intelligence (AI) tools together for defence testing through MAIple Stack, an initiative focused on sovereign AI technologies. Launched last year, the effort remains only partly visible: DND has published little information about its scope or operation.
A funding indication appears in DND’s 2026–27 Departmental Plan, which identifies a C$33.5 million “seed investment” for a “key initiative” to test sovereign AI technology in military deployments. Ottawa left follow-up questions about MAIple Stack’s funding and operational uses unanswered. The federal government also cancelled an agreed interview on national-security grounds.
The proposed uses range from processing drone and sensor data to accelerating command decisions and creating training environments away from the battlefield. DND spokesperson Kened Sadiku said the initiative would help Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel operate in “complex, data-rich environments, to improve situational awareness, and support faster, better-informed decision-making”.
The names of the participating companies emerged in an out-of-office reply from a CAF officer. It identified Cohere Inc., Anvil Intelligence Inc., H2 Analytics Inc., Larus Technologies Corporation and Tactiql Inc. as “MAIple Stack technologies”. None of the companies agreed to discuss the initiative, and their respective responsibilities within it remain undisclosed.
Existing DND work offers some context for the capabilities several participants could bring. Larus received a C$8.3 million Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) Test Drive contract for MAABI, which generates, ranks and evaluates courses of action for Canadian Army planners. It also holds a C$2.5 million Royal Canadian Navy program applying AI and machine learning to maritime domain awareness.
Tactiql’s KILO software automates the generation, validation and standardization of sensor data. Under Innovative Solutions Canada, the Canadian Army tested it from August 2023 to February 2024. A subsequent Army sale covers the integration of KILO into hardware and architectures already in service.
H2 Analytics offers EASE, a platform for intelligence and security teams to plan, develop and manage training exercises, supported by AI-enabled data creation tools. Anvil Intelligence, based in Ottawa, combines intelligence, operations and planning in a platform that has been used on operations since 2020.
In May 2026, Cohere entered a collaboration agreement with Calian to assess its North agentic AI platform in controlled defence environments. How MAIple Stack relates to these existing CAF activities—whether it incorporates them or represents separate work—remains unclear.
According to Sadiku, vendor selection took place “through a lens of expanding Canada’s burgeoning sovereign AI ecosystem, ensuring partnerships with Canadian technology companies and alignment with the Defence Industrial Strategy”. MAIple Stack uses a phased process, progressing from experimentation to operational integration and then “lessons learned”.
The scope is also open to expansion. DND said it may introduce further technologies, including advanced analytics and data management tools, adding that “the ecosystem is designed to evolve as the Canadian AI industry grows and diversifies its capabilities”. The broader ambition appears in the DND/CAF Artificial Intelligence Strategy: to make DND and the CAF a “secure, agile, AI-enabled organization” by 2030.