Canada’s defence innovators often crack the toughest problems—then hit a wall when it’s time to scale. Calian Group Ltd. wants to change that. On September 23, 2025 the company introduced Calian VENTURES, a new pathway designed to help Canadian small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) test, validate, and scale proven technologies into operational capabilities for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and allied markets—without giving up their intellectual property.

“Today we are proud to launch Calian VENTURES, Canada’s defence innovation orchestrator,” said Chris Pogue, President Defence and Space, Calian. “By leveraging Calian’s engineering experience, integrated defence solutions and trusted CAF relationships, we will work with partners to turn Canadian solutions into Canadian defence capabilities to help build Canada’s defence industrial base — that’s what Calian VENTURES is all about.”

A scale-up lane for sovereign capability

Built around partnerships with academia, financial institutions, and business support organizations, Calian VENTURES is purpose-built to shepherd solutions through the high-stakes phase between prototype and procurement. The program opens with three priority streams where operational demand and Canadian know-how already intersect:

  • Command-and-control decision support systems
  • Autonomous systems
  • Space resource orchestration

In each stream, participating SMEs work with Calian and partners to prove performance, de-risk integration, and ready their solutions for Canadian and allied procurements—all while retaining their IP.

“By orchestrating collaboration between SMEs, the CAF, and partners, Calian VENTURES provides SMEs with critical access to expertise, integration environments, and pathways to procurement – accelerating growth, removing barriers and driving innovation,” Pogue added. “This is a missing component of Canada’s defence industrial ecosystem and is needed now—more than ever—as Canada seeks to surge defence spending and reduce defence industrial dependence on other nations.”   

Why it matters now

Canada’s defence industrial base is both diverse and SME-driven. The State of Canada’s Defence Industry 2024 report counts 585 firms generating $14.3 billion in revenue and supporting 81,000+ jobs—and more than 85% of those firms have fewer than 250 employees. SMEs are where much of the country’s breakthrough innovation happens, yet they often face hurdles scaling into large CAF programs.

Federal initiatives such as Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) have already funded 600+ innovation projects since 2018, engaging hundreds of SMEs and surfacing promising technologies. Calian VENTURES is designed to complement and build on these successes, creating additional pathways for Canadian companies to translate validated ideas into sovereign capabilities.

From concept to contract

The promise of VENTURES is pragmatic: shorten the distance from field-tested tech to fielded capability. By aligning early with the right partners and procurement pathways, SMEs can focus on what they do best—innovating—while navigating the complexities of scaling, integration, and export.