The Crown Corporation Quietly Promoting Military Exports To The U.S.

 

“This is just business as usual, despite the international geopolitical arrangement seemingly dismantling in front of us.”

Nestled among glassy towers in the heart of downtown Ottawa, the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) isn’t an institution that typically attracts much public attention.

But since its foundation in 1946, the Crown corporation has played a central role in helping Canadian defence companies secure billions of dollars worth of contracts with foreign governments.

One of its top clients is the United States Department of Defense (DoD), and this flow of military trade has continued apace despite Canada’s relations with an increasingly belligerent U.S. coming under strain over the past year.

In a webinar broadcast via YouTube last October, CCC staff said “Canada remains firmly committed to its defence and trade partnership with the United States” and applauded how “Canadian innovation strengthens U.S. defence readiness.”

As an example, the staff highlighted a contract the CCC secured between the U.S. Navy and Alberta-based company QinetiQ Target Systems for “uncrewed targets” that simulate missile and aircraft threats for air defence systems.

Rewind a few months, and the rhetoric from Prime Minister Mark Carney painted a rather different picture of the state of Canada-U.S. defence relations.

During the 2025 federal election campaign, Carney said the era of Canada deepening its trade and defence ties with the U.S. was “over,” following U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats against Canada’s sovereignty.

That sentiment persists among the Canadian public. In a January Ipsos poll, 56 per cent said they are fearful that Trump might try to use military force against Canada (although an equal number said they are confident the U.S. would never invade).

In a more recent Nanos poll, 55 per cent of Canadians said they consider the U.S. to be the biggest threat to the security of Canada right now, far ahead of China (15 per cent) and Russia (14 per cent).

This year, the U.S. has carried out acts of military aggression against Venezuela, threatened to invade Greenland and is now poised to strike Iran. It has also assumed an increasingly aggressive stance towards Cuba.

Concerns have been raised about the U.S. military using Canadian technology to carry out illegal actions.  (more...)

The Crown Corporation Quietly Promoting Military Exports To The U.S.