Canada’s New Defense‑Industrial Strategy Aims to Cut Reliance on U.S.

Canada has published its first-ever defense-industrial strategy, with Prime Minister Mark Carney pledging this month to double defense spending by the end of the decade, shift at least 70% of defense acquisitions to Canadian firms, and boost defense exports by 50% while creating an estimated 125,000 jobs. The document bluntly states that long-held assumptions about U.S. security guarantees and alliance stability have been "upended," and polling cited from the Globe and Mail shows only 9% of Canadians now consider the U.S. a trustworthy ally, a distrust sharpened by President Trump’s "51st state" comments. Analysts say the plan is a message to major U.S. contractors that Ottawa intends to "de-risk" by developing its own industrial base, especially in the Arctic and through projects like an over‑the‑horizon radar deal with Australia, even as Canada remains bound to the U.S. through NORAD, NATO and Five Eyes intelligence sharing. The strategy follows heated internal debates over F‑35 and Swedish Gripen purchases and echoes moves in Europe to build greater defense autonomy in case U.S. policy turns inward or becomes more transactional. For U.S. readers, the shift signals potential long‑term changes in cross‑border defense jobs, contracts and the balance of leverage inside the North American security architecture.