The Canadian race to headquarter a new multilateral defence bank is heating up.
Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto are vying to host the bank, which is expected to bring with it about 3,500 jobs.
Canada was chosen as the host country for the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank on April 29 after three rounds of expedited negotiations held in Montreal, which involved 19 founding countries.
The bank is expected to open by the end of this year and once established could include participants from as many as 40 countries, all NATO members and their allies. It will provide long-term, low-cost financing for defence projects undertaken by participating countries.
The four Canadian cities are throwing everything they have into their bids, from offering to lend employees from local institutions to putting forth potential office space.
The yet-to-be-finalized institution would be a sea change for defence financing in Canada, something that barely existed previously after decades of the sector being shunned by the country’s financial institutions.
The campaigning has been relentless since November, when The Globe and Mail first reported that Canada was in the running to host the yet-to-be-established bank. They’ve released pitch decks and bid books. They’ve held press conferences and attained support from their respective provincial governments. They’ve rallied local companies, universities and other stakeholders to convince the federal government that if the bank landed in Canada, their city would be all-in, ready to hit the ground running at a moment’s notice.
Canada chosen as host country of multinational defence bank
Now, they’re being forced to take a beat as they await further clarity from the federal government about what its selection process will look like and who, ultimately, will come out on top.
Without further instruction thus far, many of the top contenders are asking Ottawa to run a fair and transparent selection process, making clear the criteria they intend to use in their decision.
“It will give a sense of objectivity around the process. And also, not having all the cities going around and screaming out loud that ‘We’re the best.’ At the end of the day, we all can give something to the bank, but what is it that the bank needs? And who can give that to the bank right now?” said Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada.
Meanwhile, each of the cities has taken care to ensure their pitches are well-known to key stakeholders in Ottawa, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is the ultimate decision-maker on the matter.
A decision about which city will become the international defence financing hub is expected in the coming months, likely sometime during the summer.
Rod Phillips, vice chair of financial services firm Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., also chairs the economic development organization Toronto Global, which supports Toronto’s bid for the bank. He compared the bank’s potential to the impact mining had on the country’s capital markets, when it was introduced in the late 19th century.
“This is, prospectively, as big as mining was for capital markets here,” he said. Developing a unique expertise in defence financing could be a huge asset to Canada, he added.
Opinion: What’s in it for Canada in the new global defence bank? It may not be what you think
When Mr. Carney’s decision does land, Canadian cities are doing their best to ensure that, no matter where it is, the bank can hit the ground running.
In Montreal, for example, officials leading the city’s bank bid have had discussions with local defence and finance companies about their willingness to “lend” employees to the institution if it is set up there. Stéphane Paquet, president and chief executive officer of economic development agency Montréal International, said he’s spoken with close to 10 companies and their response has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.
“They all said, ‘We’re willing to do it. It’s going to be good for them. The ramp up will be much faster, and it will be good for us, for our employees, because it will help them grow. It’s new opportunities. And if they come back to us, it will be different employees with new skills, and if they don’t, well, it will be good for the bank,’” he said.
Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto have made similar comments in their own pitches about having the workforce available to help scale the bank. Though not a government institution, the concept of lending employees to an initiative championed by Mr. Carney isn’t new. In December, The Globe reported on the hunt by Ottawa’s Major Projects Office to borrow top talent from Bay Street.
Workforce aside, the cities vying for the headquarters are also addressing logistics such as where the bank could be based in their respective downtown cores.
Vancouver, for example, proposed two different available leases in its 24-storey TELUS Garden building, ranging from 87,700 to 160,000 square feet. Similarly, Montreal highlighted eight different sites in its official pitch document with the potential to house the bank’s founding team, as well as longer-term requirements.
Canada’s Big Six banks all on board to support new multinational defence bank
Each city has their own unique strengths, and they’ve hardly shied away from making them known. But as the race heats up, the contending cities have also begun to pay closer attention to and scrutinize each other’s bids.
On Thursday, La Presse reported that promoters of Toronto’s bid had raised the possibility of a referendum on Quebec sovereignty, pending a fall election, as a reason to disqualify Montreal’s bid.
In response to a question on Friday about this, Quebec’s International Relations Minister Christopher Skeete said the province has been debating independence for more than 50 years and would not “engage in campaigns of fear.”
“Referendums are not new in Quebec,” he said. “That never stopped international organizations from being here.”
The reported comments surfaced more than a week after Ms. Martinez Ferrada hosted the founding countries’ delegates, who were in Montreal for negotiations, at City Hall. It was an opportunity that no other mayor had during negotiations.
As they await further instruction from the federal government, each city is doing its best to remain relevant in the race and make it known how they’d like to see the process unfold.
Bridgitte Anderson, president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said her city wants the chance to present to Ottawa. Sonya Shorey, president and CEO of the economic development agency Invest Ottawa, said she wants to see specific criteria laid out by the federal government.
But for now, Mr. Paquet said, the pitches are in the hands of the federal government, and the facts will speak for themselves.