Economic and national security are inseparable, with economic security now an explicit filter for decisions on domestic industrial support, procurement, regulatory approvals and foreign direct investment, says the government’s new national security strategy.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced The Plan for a Stronger Canada: National Security for Canadians on Oct. 29. It’s Canada's first comprehensive national security strategy in more than two decades. The framework places economic resilience, defence readiness and technological sovereignty at the centre of federal policymaking and is built around five pillars: economic security, foreign policy, defence, public safety and intelligence.
The strategy states that “the long-held belief that the combination of our geography, interconnectedness, and a rules-based international order could substitute for Canadian sovereign capacity to protect ourselves is no longer tenable.”
The government has identified eight priority strategic capability sectors: emerging technologies (AI, quantum, semiconductors, space comms and navigation), critical minerals, defence, energy, transportation, pharmaceuticals and biotech, food security, and financial infrastructure.
The plan also commits Ottawa to expanding Canada's role in developing and commercializing advanced technologies, including AI, quantum computing and space-based technologies.
On defence, the plan says Canada reached the NATO benchmark of spending two per cent of GDP in 2025-26 and is pursuing the alliance's target of five per cent by 2035.
The government points to Buy Canadian procurement policies, a new Defence Investment Agency, the Strategic Response Fund and the Canada Strong Diversification Fund as key tools to support military readiness, industrial capacity and economic resilience.
