CME launches CME Defence to expand Canadian defence manufacturing
CME Defence: translating strategy into industrial capacity
Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters has rolled out a national program called CME Defence to help manufacturers access and compete for defence procurement opportunities driven by the federal Defence Industrial Strategy.
CME Defence is designed to convert government procurement signals into practical industrial outcomes by focusing on supplier readiness, certification, productivity improvements and commercialization of dual‑use technologies.
The initiative positions CME as a connector between primes and smaller firms, improving visibility for Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers and helping them meet defence procurement standards and partner requirements.
CME Defence explicitly aligns with the national Strategy’s ambition — which has been framed around roughly C$500 billion of defence-related investment over a decade and aspirational domestic-content targets (about 70%) — by aiming to increase SME participation in defence supply chains.
Program delivery will be networked across provinces, with CME planning to work through regional associations and sector clusters (for example, Quebec’s industry groups and existing regional initiatives) so supports can be scaled and tailored locally.
Operational activities include supply‑chain development, help with defence‑grade certification, accelerated security‑clearance assistance, and support for commercializing defence-capable innovations — measures that mirror regional precedents such as Quebec’s recent RDII projects.
CME Defence can also serve as a bridge to new national delivery mechanisms and financing tools referenced in Ottawa’s package — including the proposed Defence Investment Agency and targeted capital vehicles (e.g., a Defence Platform at the Business Development Bank) — by helping firms become investment‑ready for capacity expansion.
A practical focus on matchmaking aims to bring primes, integrators and smaller suppliers together early, reducing onboarding time and clarifying subcontracting pathways that were previously opaque for many SMEs.
The launch frames defence procurement as a lever for longer‑term economic value: job creation, industrial resilience and technology spillovers into civilian markets — but it also surfaces execution risks such as workforce constraints, supply‑chain bottlenecks and the need for predictable multi‑year contracts.
CME Defence acknowledges those constraints and emphasizes supports that target certification cycles, productivity modernization and investor engagement so firms can scale to meet new contract requirements.
By positioning itself as a program manager and connector, CME Defence hopes to accelerate supplier readiness and increase SME success rates in defence competitions, while signalling to foreign primes that Canadian partnerships and local content will be easier to execute.
Participation details and engagement pathways for manufacturers and partners are hosted on a dedicated website where stakeholders can learn how to plug into the new ecosystem; CME also expects to coordinate follow-up with provincial clusters and industry groups to translate national targets into regional outcomes.
- Improve procurement preparedness for domestic suppliers.
- Strengthen resilience across multi‑tier supply networks.
- Accelerate commercialization of defence‑adjacent technologies.
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