Justice Minister Sean Fraser, who is also the minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency says 10 companies are developing tech with a lot of potential.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
A new Canadian defence accelerator is the first recipient of federal support on the East Coast through Ottawa’s regional defence investment initiative, set up to help the country’s defence companies scale.
First announced in early December, the federal government’s $357.7-million Regional Defence Investment Initiative is split between Canada’s seven regional development agencies. On the East Coast, that translates to $38.2-million over three years for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to distribute in a way that helps small-to-medium-sized defence businesses scale.
Vimy Forge, a Fredericton-based public-private partnership, is the first ACOA beneficiary. The high security accelerator is receiving a one-time investment of $997,000 to support operations, which will include paying for defence experts to mentor its inaugural cohort of 10 companies. This adds to funding received from its private partners, which include DLA Piper, a global law firm, Commissionaires, a non-profit security company, and The Icebreaker, a defence innovation network.
Sean Fraser, federal minister of justice and the minister responsible for the ACOA, said the 10 companies are developing tech with a lot of potential.
“If we can accelerate their growth through an investment in Vimy Forge, it’s a tremendous opportunity for the Atlantic region,” he said.
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Ian Whytock, co-founder of Vimy Forge, said the roughly $1-million will help launch the accelerator and kick off programming for the cohort of companies. Starting in March, its year-long program will operate in 12-week intervals, each of which will include five days spent in-person in Fredericton to bring together the companies, mentors and other industry stakeholders.
Having everyone convene in Fredericton is important to Mr. Whytock, who said the East Coast has a unique mix of all the right stakeholders for defence companies.
The provincial capital is home to the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity at the University of New Brunswick. It is also close to the country’s second-largest military base in Gagetown and major defence companies, such as Irving Shipbuilding in neighbouring Nova Scotia.
“You’ve got the end user, you’ve got industry building what the end user needs, and then you’ve got research. And because Vimy Forge sits at the intersection of all of those, that makes it a unique place in Canada,” Mr. Whytock said.
The 10 companies in Vimy Forge’s inaugural cohort come from all over Canada, including two from Quebec, two from British Columbia, four from Ontario, one from New Brunswick and another that operates in both N.B. and Ontario. They’re developing a range of products, from artificial intelligence to detect deception in questioning or screening, to underwater vessels capable of long missions to counter-drone technology designed to track and classify mini drones.
“That cohort is a reflection of the needs of the Canadian Armed Forces and the things that they want to see being developed,” Mr. Whytock said.
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James Yurichuk, founder of the Mississauga, Ont.-based textile company Wuxly, said he applied to join Vimy Forge to learn from other Canadian defence entrepreneurs and get closer to the end user. His company is one of four from Ontario accepted into Vimy’s inaugural cohort. The accelerator’s explicit focus on filling gaps identified by the Canadian Armed Forces was a selling point, he said.
“We wanted to be part of a program that takes a truly Canadian, holistic view of the challenges facing the different branches of the CAF,” Mr. Yurichuk said in an e-mail.
By allocating funds through Vimy Forge, rather than investing into the companies directly, Mr. Fraser said the federal government aims to support their growth more efficiently and not bog it down with government bureaucracy.
“We don’t want to dole out public support on the basis of which organization has the most expertise in filling out forms. We want to identify the companies who have the highest growth potential,” he said, adding that is where Vimy’s expertise comes in handy.
And the fact that not all the companies in Vimy’s inaugural cohort are based in Atlantic Canada should be considered an advantage for the region, Mr. Fraser said.
“When you have companies from other parts of Canada or other parts of the world who show up and want to do business and build relationships in Atlantic Canada, there are opportunities for them to grow a footprint in the Atlantic region,” he said.
The RDII is part of Ottawa’s Defence Industrial Strategy, which received $6.6-billion in funding over a five-year period in November’s federal budget.