B.C. universities, industries awarded $46M through defence industrial strategy

Gregor Robertson, the former Vancouver mayor turned federal minister for Pacific Economic Development Canada, announced the new B.C.-focused investments during a news conference Friday in Delta. (CTV News)

British Columbia’s two largest universities will each take a multimillion-dollar share of the federal government’s newly announced defence industrial strategy spending as Ottawa seeks to bolster Canada’s domestic military and security sector.

The federal government announced on Friday it would invest more than $40 million in a handful of defence-related projects at the University of B.C. and Simon Fraser University.

Gregor Robertson, the former Vancouver mayor turned federal minister for Pacific Economic Development Canada, announced the new B.C.-focused investments during a news conference Friday in Delta.

“British Columbia has the talent, innovation, and expertise to help protect Canada,” Robertson said at the facilities of marine vessel manufacturer Zodiac Hurricane Technologies.

“By investing in research infrastructure and helping businesses scale up, we’re ensuring B.C. companies can seize defence opportunities while building prosperity across the province and Canada.”

Three projects at UBC were each awarded between $4.75 million and $8.75 million to develop technologies with direct or indirect defence applications.

Among them are a project to accelerate the design and manufacture of advanced aerospace and marine materials, and a project to develop a handheld system to rapidly detect airborne pathogens and other health risks.

The university’s Sauder School of Business was separately awarded $1.6 million to help defence technology startup companies scale up and grow through its partnership with the University of Toronto’s Creative Destruction Lab.

Meanwhile, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby was awarded roughly $20 million to be split evenly between two projects intended to establish and operate advanced computing networks for both civilian and defence purposes.

UBC president and vice-chancellor Benoit-Antoine Bacon said in a statement that the new defence spending would help the school advance breakthrough technologies in other research areas, such as life sciences and artificial intelligence.

Private sector investments

As part of the new B.C.-focused defence spending, Ottawa said it would also provide $1.87 million to the Association of British Columbia Marine Industries, intended to help promote the commercialization and export of B.C. marine technologies.

Alex Rueben, the association’s executive director, said the investment would accelerate the already “rapidly growing” marine industry in the province and create more jobs in the sector.

“Canada is investing in building the capabilities and capacities to uphold and assert our country’s sovereignty and lessen our dependence on others for our defence,” Rueben said in a statement.

Alacrity Canada was also awarded $2.6 million to help B.C. businesses enter the defence and dual-use supply chains through training in defence procurement and participation in security industry expositions.

The $46.6 million in local defence spending announced Friday is part of Ottawa’s $6.6-billion strategy to increase the domestic share of federal defence contracts to 70 per cent and grow Canadian defence exports by 50 per cent.

The federal government estimates the plan will add 125,000 jobs to the defence sector over the next decade.