Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a new strategic partnership with General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada today, committing almost $2 billion over four years for 190 more Armoured Combat Support Vehicles, built entirely in London, Ontario.
Why it matters: Canada hit NATO’s 2% of GDP spending target in March, its highest defence spending relative to the economy since the Cold War. This deal is part of the next push: building toward NATO’s new 5% pledge by 2035, with Ottawa determined to keep that money funding Canadian jobs and Canadian supply chains rather than foreign suppliers.
The details:
- The buy grows Canada’s ACSV fleet from 360 to 550 vehicles.
- Every vehicle is designed, built and assembled in Canada, drawing on more than 600 suppliers in over 100 communities.
- The deal is expected to create or sustain 6,000-plus jobs a year for the next eight years.
- GDLS-Canada becomes the first company signed under Ottawa’s new Strategic Partnership Framework, a program meant to make Canadian defence firms the government’s go-to suppliers in exchange for R&D and workforce commitments.
What they’re saying:
- Carney says the partnership lets GDLS-Canada “design, build, deliver, and sustain” the vehicles domestically, calling it part of how “we build Canada strong.”
- Defence Minister David McGuinty says working with “trusted Canadian partners” strengthens the industrial base while advancing “Canada’s security and sovereignty.”
- Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is positioned to “capitalise on rising demand” in armoured vehicles globally, calling the investment a way to “drive innovation, attract investment, and create high-quality jobs.”
- Government Transformation Minister Joël Lightbound says the deal puts “Canadian workers, Canadian expertise, and Canadian industry at the centre” of defence spending, adding it will “create skilled jobs, secur[e] critical supply chains” and equip the Armed Forces.
- Defence procurement secretary Stephen Fuhr says the new approach is “delivering capabilities to the Canadian Armed Forces faster” while building “enduring partnerships” that grow industrial capacity and drive innovation.
By the numbers:
- GDLS-Canada employs 1,700-plus workers and has delivered over 2,000 vehicles to the CAF and 9,000 to allies over nearly 50 years.
- ACSVs come in eight variants, from ambulance to engineer, all on the same LAV 6.0 platform.
- Canada has sent 89 of these vehicles to Ukraine, with 35 more pledged.
- The broader Defence Industrial Strategy is chasing $180 billion in procurement and $290 billion in capital investment opportunities over the next decade.
The bottom line: This is Ottawa betting that rearming the military and rebuilding domestic industry can be the same project, not a tradeoff.