Glenn Copeland: Beneath the ice, Canada’s strategic future is taking shape

Bringing students, engineers and researchers closer to real-world production environments can accelerate knowledge transfer while supporting the next generation of skilled Canadian talent. Photo by Courtesy of Hanwha Ocean/Postmedia files

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As Canada prepares for the next generation of its maritime defence capabilities, attention is naturally focused on the ships and submarines that will safeguard the country’s vast waters across three oceans.

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Yet an equally important question lies beneath the surface: where will the technologies that power and sustain these vessels be developed, integrated and maintained over the decades ahead?

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Canada continues to renew its shipbuilding capacity, but many of the complex systems that form the operational backbone of these vessels remain sourced from abroad.

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As geopolitical dynamics become more complex — particularly in the Arctic and the Indo-Pacific — there is growing recognition that enduring maritime capability depends not only on acquisition, but also on sustained domestic capacity. This includes research, engineering talent and industrial integration aligned with the environments in which the Canadian Armed Forces operate.

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This presents a constructive opportunity for Canada: future defence programs can serve to meet capability needs and to strengthen a resilient maritime innovation ecosystem that supports long-term national capacity and reinforces the country’s sovereignty.

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Canada already possesses many of the essential building blocks: world-class universities, respected research institutions and a rapidly advancing technology sector that has strengths in artificial intelligence, robotics and advanced materials. The next step is to more closely integrate these capabilities into large-scale defence and industrial programs.

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There are encouraging examples of this approach.

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In Atlantic Canada, the Ocean Supercluster continues to bring together industry, academia and government to translate research into advanced industrial capability. In southern Ontario, similar models are beginning to take shape within the maritime sector.

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Building on this momentum, Hanwha Ocean Co. Ltd. designed a memorandum of understanding with Ontario Shipyards to explore long-term industrial collaboration to support Canada’s future maritime programs. A related letter of intent with Ontario Shipyards and Mohawk College is examining the creation of a shipbuilding, training and research hub embedded directly within shipyard operations.

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The concept is practical. By linking technical education with the needs of Canada’s marine defence sector, including advanced manufacturing, digital shipbuilding and quality assurance, these hubs can help strengthen workforce development and industrial capability.