National Defence Minister David McGuinty during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday. Mr. McGuinty is leading a four-day trade mission to Japan later this month.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Canada’s Defence Minister David McGuinty is leading a four-day trade mission to Japan later this month to pitch the Asian country on Canadian military hardware and technology.
Nearly 40 Canadian companies will accompany Mr. McGuinty, including MDA Space, famous for the Canadarm, satellite operator Telesat and aircraft maker De Havilland Canada, according to Alice Hansen, the minister’s director of communications.
During the June 23 to 26 visit, the Defence Minister will meet with his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi and tour a naval base.
In a recent interview, Mr. McGuinty said the trade mission is part of what he calls “defence diplomacy,” as Canada seeks to strengthen and diversify its security co-operation with allies outside North America.
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He said defence co-operation and military goods trade with Japan could lead to a range of possible outcomes.
“It could be weapon systems. It could be space. It could be Japanese companies joining us in research,” Mr. McGuinty said.
“It could be quantum computing and its applications for defence. It could be autonomous vehicles underwater, on land, in the air,” the minister said.
He said a big hurdle was cleared in January, when Japan and Canada signed a Equipment and Technology Transfer Agreement that enables companies from both countries to work on projects that require the transfer of equipment, technology or intellectual property to Canada.
Mr. McGuinty’s trip is part of a Team Canada trade mission led by International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu, with a focus on clean technology.
Japan is in the midst of its largest peacetime military build-up, pouring money into long-range strike missiles, unmanned surveillance systems and naval capacity.
Tokyo approved a defence budget of roughly 9 trillion yen – about US$58-billion – for the 2026 fiscal year, the 12th consecutive annual increase. It is racing to hit a target of 2 per cent of gross domestic product in defence spending, a goal it had originally set for 2027, but is now trying to reach sooner.
Tokyo has cited growing military pressure from three neighbours with nuclear arms – China, North Korea and Russia – as the drivers of the build-up.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in March announced a strategic partnership during the Canadian leader’s visit to Tokyo. The roadmap signed as part of the partnership called for deeper defence industry collaboration, joint work on cybersecurity and co-operation on space “domain awareness,” or surveillance, as well as on energy, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, among other items.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attend a joint press conference in Tokyo, Japan in March.Takashi Aoyama/The Associated Press
Japan’s ambassador to Canada, Kanji Yamanouchi, in an interview last week called defence industry co-operation between his country and Canadian businesses is “very promising.”
Ms. Hansen said other companies accompanying Mr. McGuinty include software maker BlackBerry and NovAtel, a Calgary-based company that’s part of Hexagon and specializes in high-precision Global Navigation Satellite System positioning technology.
The Carney government’s recently unveiled defence industrial strategy aims over 10 years to create 125,000 high-paying jobs, increase defence exports by 50 per cent and boost Canadian defence industry revenues by 240 per cent.
Canadian defence companies making the trip to Tokyo cover a range of military technologies from underwater surveillance robots and sonar systems to satellites, drones, cybersecurity software and armoured vehicles.
Almost one-fifth of the businesses on the trade mission specialize in undersea robotics and surveillance technology – capabilities of clear interest to a country that shares waters with China and lives under the shadow of North Korean missiles.
Also on Mr. McGuinty’s defence trade mission, according to Ms. Hansen, are Cellula Robotics, a Burnaby, B.C.-based company that builds autonomous underwater vehicles, as well as Kraken Robotics, a Mount Pearl, N.L.-based company that makes sensors, sonar systems and batteries for underwater drones.
Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, said the timing of this trip is good because both countries are making “generational investments in our defence sector” as they seek to maintain peace and stability in both the Indo-Pacific and the Arctic.
Mr. Carney, saying that Canada could no longer rely on the United States for protection, used his first budget last November to deliver a defence-spending increase of more than $84-billion over five years – which is believed to be the biggest short-term cash infusion for the military since the Korean War.
Ms. Nadjibulla said increased focus by Canadian cabinet ministers on Japan is important as Ottawa seeks to build middle-power coalitions around the world.