RC125 JulyAug 2026 - Magazine - Page 12
DEFENCE INFRASTRUCTURE
Procurement Innovation and Indigenous Capacity
For a $290-billion capital program to successfully fortify the nation,
procurement must become substantially more agile, transparent,
12—RENEW CANADA – JULY/AUGUST 2026
Building lasting foundations
The defense of Canada is ultimately a generational responsibility.
The choices made by infrastructure leaders, military planners, and
government agencies today will irrevocably dictate the nation’s strategic and economic security through the middle of the century.
While advanced digital modeling, progressive contract delivery
models, and structural engineering innovations are indispensable
tools, the true foundation of a successful $290-billion defense build
rests entirely on the strength of human relationships. Building highly
secure, logistically complex facilities in punishing environments
requires a level of institutional trust that cannot be manufactured
overnight.
“Shareholders are all of Canada, all Canadians on this one, and
we’ve got to get it right,” Crain concluded. “And it’s going to take all
of us working together to do it.”
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Program synchronization
To prevent these massive capital investments from cannibalizing one
another, Canada must move away from a siloed project mentality. Je昀昀
Hamilton, Director and Senior Advisor for Defense and Security with
EY, argued that the $290-billion portfolio must be managed through a
comprehensive, “system of systems” view.
“The government’s going to need to treat this as one integrated Northern program that’s informed and synchronized with the
relevant nation building projects managed by the MPO as well,” said
Hamilton. This integrated perspective is essential because military
infrastructure cannot exist in a vacuum; it remains heavily dependent
on the baseline energy, transport, and logistics capacities of the local
communities that host them.
A critical component of this systematic approach is program synchronization—understanding precisely which strategic pieces must be
built 昀椀rst to enable subsequent phases of construction. Between 2027
and 2032, Canada will experience a massive concentration of defence
infrastructure labor across its northern footprint.
“It’s hard to imagine how you’re going build top secret level
facilities and support a 昀椀ghter infrastructure when you haven’t got
the operational support hub in place to do the receipt and dispatch of
material, equipment, consumables, and even the human resources that
need to 昀氀ow up into the north and 昀氀ow back for that matter,” Hamilton noted.
Furthermore, this synchronization must extend directly to northern
energy infrastructure. Many remote northern communities remain
almost exclusively reliant on 昀椀nite quantities of fossil fuels transported
up during brief seasonal windows—supplies that are strictly budgeted for local community consumption. Introducing massive military
construction projects without concurrently upgrading regional energy
generation would severely strain local grids and jeopardize community relations.
To maximize the socioeconomic return on these investments, DND
is increasingly focusing on “dual use” infrastructure. Wherever operationally feasible, new defense facilities, air昀椀elds, transport corridors,
and green energy installations should be structured to serve a dual
purpose, said Hudock.
“There’s a military requirement for facilities, but those facilities
could, should or potentially can be used by the local communities to
assist everything that they’re doing.”
and socially accountable. Historically, public procurement has been
viewed as a bureaucratic and burdensome exercise. However, recent
initiatives indicate a positive shift toward transparency. DND and
DCC have drawn praise from across the sector for launching comprehensive industry outlook days and standing up centralized, accessible web portals that detail upcoming capital infrastructure pipelines.
To further optimize these tools, Hamilton suggested adding deeper layers of programmatic data to public pipelines. He said clearly
designating whether an upcoming tender involves standard civil security or high-level physical security allows contractors to pre-screen
their supply chains and align cleared workforces well in advance.
The most profound opportunity for procurement innovation lies
in rewriting how the federal government fosters Indigenous participation and capacity building. Historically, federal departments have
approached Indigenous procurement through distinct strategies.
According to Crain, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC)
has traditionally relied on a “set-aside” model to direct contracts
to registered Indigenous businesses, while DCC has increasingly
favored a mandatory, merit-based requirements approach within its
Request for Proposals (RFPs). In recent northern defense tenders, up
to one-third of an RFP’s evaluation score has been explicitly tied to
de昀椀ned Inuit bene昀椀ts, assessing what concrete partnerships, employment opportunities, and long-term economic legacies a proponent
will bring to local communities.
Crain noted that while both models have driven progress toward
federal procurement targets, the unique demographic reality of the
Far North requires industry to move beyond purely opportunity-based procurement. In isolated northern communities with small
baseline populations, simply providing a contract opportunity is
ine昀昀ective if the community lacks the immediate corporate infrastructure or specialized trade volume to execute it.
“We need to 昀椀gure how we use the procurement tools to develop
those capabilities to build capacity in these smaller markets using
local folks and using Canadians,” Crain argued. True procurement
innovation means leveraging federal defense spending as a foundational economic engine. By embedding long-term training, mandatory apprenticeships, and capital investment inside local corporate
joints ventures, major defense builds can leave behind a permanent,
highly skilled, and self-sustaining regional workforce.
To watch a replay of the entire discussion, visit:
https://www.crowdcast.io/c/building-canadas-defence.
RENEWCANADA.NET
