Buy Canadian has to extend to aerospace and defence if Canada is to defend its borders

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Aviation doesn’t just move people; it moves economies and shapes history. It has always reflected our national ambition.

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Canada’s aerospace and defence leadership began during the Second World War, when we trained more than 130,000 Allied pilots under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, one of history’s largest aviation training efforts. That legacy led United States president Theodore Roosevelt to call Canada the “aerodrome of democracy.”

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During that time, Canada made a deliberate decision to build domestic aviation manufacturing capacity, recognizing it as vital for both defence and economic development.

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That continued after the war, with programs such as the F-86 Sabre, built under licence in Montreal to grow local expertise and supply chains. The government also chose Toronto-made engines from Orenda Engines, a Canadian upgrade that boosted performance and enabled exports.

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Next came the CF-100 Canuck, a fully Canadian-designed and -built interceptor. It marked the start of CAE Inc.’s flight simulation journey, establishing domestic expertise that now spans civil and military aviation training.

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The CF-104 Starfighter followed, again built in Canada, enhanced for export, and paired with CAE simulators — first for Canada, then Germany. That marked CAE’s first international program and the dawn of a global capability that today helps power North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) readiness.

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Procurement of aircraft such as the F-86, CF-104, T-33 and CF-5, all built under licence in Montreal, gave Canadair Ltd. the expertise to design its own platforms, like the CT-114 Tutor, still flown by the Snowbirds. That foundation led to the Challenger business jet and, ultimately, to the CRJ and Global Express families — programs that firmly established Bombardier Inc. as a global aerospace leader.

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Similarly, defence procurement in the 1950s and 1960s supported the development of rugged transport aircraft such as the DHC-3 Otter, DHC-4 Caribou and DHC-5 Buffalo, procured from De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. in Toronto. These aircraft met Canadian Army and NATO needs and were adopted by the U.S. military. This legacy of innovation led to the development of the Twin Otter and Dash 8, uniquely Canadian aircraft still operating in airline service around the world today.

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Together with related programs awarded to CAE for simulators and Pratt & Whitney Canada for engines, these procurements helped anchor aerospace innovation and manufacturing across Canada, including Montreal and Toronto, making both cities global aerospace hubs.

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The CF-18 program in the 1980s followed the same logic. Though not built here, Canada ensured sustainment capability at home, enabling our engineers in Mirabel to manage classified source code critical to our fighters’ performance.