July 9, 2026 — At the NATO Summit in Ankara on July 7, Prime Minister Mark Carney joined leaders from eight allied nations to sign a declaration confirming their shared intention to establish the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB).
The announcement marks a significant milestone for a first-of-its-kind multilateral financial institution designed to mobilise public and private capital in support of collective defence, security, and resilience priorities.
Canada has been confirmed as the host country for the DSRB’s future headquarters, following the successful conclusion of founding Articles of Agreement negotiations in Montréal in April 2026.
The DSRB is expected to commence operations as early as 2027.
What the DSRB Will Do
The DSRB will provide long-term, low-cost financing for defence, security, and resilience initiatives across supply chains, helping governments and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) address critical financing gaps, expand industrial capacity, and accelerate production.
It will offer guarantees that increase the availability of affordable capital and loans to member countries for priority investments, complementing rather than duplicating existing national and multilateral instruments.
For Canada’s defence sector, which includes more than 530 firms, directly accounts for 37,700 jobs, and contributed $8.6 billion to GDP in 2024, the DSRB represents a significant opportunity to scale, access new markets, and compete in emerging sectors from artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum to space and cyber.
“The Defence, Security and Resilience Bank will unlock investment, strengthen our defence industrial base, and ensure that Canada and our Allies have the capacity to meet the challenges of a more dangerous and divided world together,” said Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a release posted to the PMO website.
Minister of Finance François-Philippe Champagne highlighted the opportunity for Canadian industry: “By supporting SMEs in scaling up and seizing new opportunities, the Bank will strengthen our collective capacity to produce and export defence capabilities in response to growing global demand,” as quoted in the same release.
Why Ottawa-Gatineau Is a Strong Candidate
With Canada confirmed as host country, the federal government will determine which Canadian city will serve as the DSRB’s permanent headquarters. Ottawa-Gatineau has put forward a compelling case.
As Canada’s National Capital Region, Ottawa-Gatineau offers direct proximity to the federal defence decision-makers, procurement officials, and policy institutions the DSRB will need to engage with daily. More than 130 embassies and high commissions, alongside military attachés from NATO and allied nations, are already embedded in the region, providing the kind of allied diplomatic access no other Canadian city can match.
Mayors Mark Sutcliffe and Maude Marquis-Bissonnette have joined a broad coalition of regional leaders and defence industry voices in making the case directly to the federal government. As they have noted, the DSRB is not a conventional financial institution, it is a defence institution with a banking mandate, and its effectiveness will depend on daily proximity to the people and institutions it exists to serve.
What This Means for Ottawa’s Defence Ecosystem
The DSRB’s potential arrival in Ottawa-Gatineau would be a significant accelerant for the region’s emerging defence cluster, bringing international allied engagement, defence finance expertise, and new institutional infrastructure to a community already building the capacity to support it.
Invest Ottawa is actively engaged in making the case for Ottawa-Gatineau as the DSRB’s home. To learn more about defence innovation in the National Capital Region, visit the Defence Innovation Hub.
Related Articles:
- Canada Named Host Country for Multinational Defence, Security and Resilience Bank
- Ottawa-Gatineau Is the Right Home for Canada’s Defence, Security and Resilience Bank
- Ottawa–Gatineau Emerging in Global Dialogue Around Proposed Defence, Security and Resilience Bank
- General (Ret’d) Rick Hillier Named Honourary Chair as Canada’s Capital Region Bids for Global Defence Security Resiliency Bank Headquarters
- Tech Pioneer Sir Terry Matthews Formally Endorses Canada’s Capital Region as the Headquarters for New Defence Security and Resilience Bank
- Canada’s Capital Region Mobilizes to Lead as a Global Defence Innovation Hub
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