As Canada advances its Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) and accelerates investment in sovereign capability, a new industry-led alliance is bringing Canadian-owned defence companies together under a coordinated national voice.
The Alliance of Canadian Defence Companies (ACDC), launched February 24th, includes 23 founding members representing defence manufacturers, technology firms and suppliers from across the country.
Ottawa-based companies among the 23 founding members of the alliance include Ottawa-based defence technology company Dominion Dynamics and national security-focused investment firm ONE9, along with Arnprior-based Convergence Design Services and Valcom Consulting Group Inc, which has an Ottawa-based office.
A unified voice for Canadian-owned defence firms
ACDC was established to represent Canadian-owned and Canadian-controlled companies building sovereign and export-ready defence capabilities. Founding members span advanced manufacturing, energetics, autonomy, artificial intelligence, sensors, space systems, logistics and dual-use technologies.
In an interview with BetaKit following the launch, Co-Founder and CEO of Dominion Dynamics, and ACDC Co-Chair Eliot Pence described Canada’s defence targets as “unobtainable [without] a clear voice from Canadian-owned, Canadian-controlled businesses,” underscoring the importance of stronger coordination among domestic builders.
The 23 founding companies represent organizations from Ontario, Québec, Alberta and Atlantic Canada, reflecting the breadth and depth of Canada’s defence and dual-use innovation ecosystem.
Ottawa’s national defence innovation strategy
With founders leading national coordination efforts, the region continues to demonstrate strength in advanced manufacturing, secure software, autonomy, space technologies, and dual-use systems.
Ottawa-Gatineau’s leadership in defence innovation also aligns with the region’s pursuit of hosting the proposed Defence and Security Resiliency Bank (DRSB) – reinforcing its position as a logical home for national coordination and sovereign capability development.
As Canada works to strengthen industrial resilience and reinforce domestic capability, collaboration among Canadian-owned builders will play an increasingly important role in shaping long-term defence readiness.
- Learn more about Ottawa’s defence innovation ecosystem at dihub.ca.
Shoebox enables hearing care around the world. It creates, sells, and supports products that help clinicians identify hearing loss. The maker of Shoebox, Clearwater Clinical, hit a huge milestone in 2018 when they entered a strategic partnership with international hearing device company 
Transforming our data-driven world takes talent, and MindBridge is where it’s happening. This is where you’ll take artificial intelligence to enable and inspire humans to do more and be better. Our people, our customers, and our investors agree: No one else is accomplishing what we’re doing with data-driven AI right now. 
Tehama is enabling the digital workplace of the future. 150 companies are using Tehama. 600,000+ hours of IT services delivered. Zero breaches. The company’s head office is in the heart of the highly desirable Westboro neighborhood of Ottawa where you have your pick of the best of Ottawa’s cafes, restaurants and shops. Prefer to work from home? Tehama offers remote working options and flexible core hours. Join a team of the best and brightest and enjoy competitive salaries, benefits and a commitment to YOUR long-term success. 
Spartan Bioscience aspires to unleash the power of DNA testing for everyone. Like the Spartan warriors of Ancient Greece, our smart, hard-working, and honorable team members get things done. Learn