“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.”

The line from Calvin Coolidge sits framed on Anvil Co-founder Samuel Witherspoon’s desk, a gift from his grandfather that he discussed in episode 7 of Invest Ottawa’s Invested in Our New Reality podcast.

For Anvil, founded in Ottawa more than 11 years ago, persistence isn’t branding. It is the blueprint. And in this moment, as Canada increases defence spending and renews its commitment to sovereign capability and vies for a Defence, Security and Resilience Bank headquarters, persistence is meeting opportunity.

Invest Ottawa’s recent defence company media tour, which gathered participants including Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and ecosystem partners, brought that story into clear focus.

After spending the morning exploring dual-use robotics at Area X.O, advanced protective technologies at Med-Eng, and satellite communications at Telesat, the tour arrived at Anvil’s ByWard Market headquarters.

There, the theme of persistence revealed itself not only in the company’s history here in Ottawa, but as the force behind the company’s drive to scale – and its rapidly expanding national role.

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A Glimpse Inside Anvil

Inside the bustling workspace, intelligence professionals, AI engineers, and mission operators work side by side, surrounded by live simulations and multi-domain intelligence overlays.

The buzz and the energy in the room was unmistakable: Anvil is scaling at speed – and doing so at a time when Canada is actively seeking the capabilities they have spent a decade building. Witherspoon welcomed the group with the focused clarity that has defined the company since the beginning, noting that Anvil is “one hundred percent Canadian-owned and operated, the first in the next generation of high-growth Canadian defence companies.”

As he spoke about the firm’s early years, he added with characteristic candour, “We’ve been at it for 11 years, so saying we’re the first feels a bit trite,” he said with a smile. “But we were there before it was fun, and we’ll be there after it stops being fun, because that’s why we’re doing it. We actually care about the mission.”

He described Anvil’s core capability with equal precision: linking intelligence, operations, and planning to accelerate mission decision-making. It is work that has made the company “a trusted mission partner to national defence and security organizations for over a decade,” at home and abroad.

The company’s platform is purpose-built for modern operations: disconnected environments, contested communications, rapid decision cycles, and missions where seconds matter. It has been deployed on operations since 2020 and tested for interoperability with every NATO nation, plus Ukraine – a milestone that would be noteworthy for any defence company, let alone one built entirely without outside capital.

A Company at an Inflection Point

The timing of the visit aligned with a pivotal moment for Anvil. After years of patient and persistent development, the company is now scaling in step with national demand.

As Canada strengthens its commitment to meeting NATO readiness and spending targets, the federal government has announced a suite of investments to modernize the Canadian Armed Forces, enhance Arctic domain awareness, and expand cyber and intelligence capabilities.

New funding streams, procurement reforms, and innovation programs, including those announced this year as part of Canada’s evolving defence policy, are accelerating the adoption of sovereign technologies.

For companies like Anvil, which has spent more than a decade developing Canadian-built intelligence capability, these announcements represent a seismic shift: the market conditions they prepared for are now here.

As Witherspoon put it, the government’s renewed commitment to defence has meaningfully accelerated its trajectory:

“The defence spending uplift and the Carney government’s renewed commitment to defence and national security have been a major accelerator for us. If you asked us two years ago, it was not the same picture.”

Scaling Talent in Canada’s Defence Capital

Today, the Anvil team nears 60 employees, but according to Witherspoon, not for long, as he highlighted a projection of 500 new jobs in the Ottawa-Gatineau region over the next two years.

Anvil’s Head of People Operations, Alex Hatton offered a vivid picture of Anvil’s momentum, describing the company as standing squarely “at an inflection point.”

Hatton noted, “We’re growing extremely fast, this is a very opportune moment for us,” he said. “The growth is tremendous. We’re finding amazingly talented people, and we’re looking for more.”

Witherspoon stated plainly what the company’s growth could mean for Ottawa’s defence economy:

“With the programs we’re already engaged on, we’re essentially saying we’re going to be a billion-dollar company in Ottawa,” he said. “We’re extremely confident we’ll be sitting here in several new offices two years from now, having the same conversation.”

Why Ottawa is the Ideal Place for Companies Like Anvil to Build

The earlier stops on the tour underscored what Anvil makes undeniable: Ottawa is Canada’s defence innovation capital.

It is the only region in the country where:

• Department of National Defence, Defence Research and Development Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and Communications Security Establishment headquarters operate within minutes of each other
• More than 330 defence, security, and cyber firms build sovereign and dual-use technology
• 65 federal labs contribute to R&D, testing, and applied science
• Diplomats, allies, and NATO partners shape missions daily
• A dense talent pool blends AI, systems engineering, intelligence, and operational experience

This proximity is central to Anvil’s success and its philosophy. Their platform must be shaped by people who live the operational realities it supports. Ottawa offers that context uniquely.

Ottawa’s R&D Infrastructure Is Fueling the Next Wave

It was fitting that the day’s media tour began at Area X.O, Invest Ottawa’s all-season R&D complex for next-generation technologies.

There, companies demonstrated autonomous robotics, counter-UAS systems, and heavy-duty sensing platforms built for both commercial and defence environments. The site, a NATO DIANA–affiliated test centre, is one of Canada’s most important proving grounds for dual-use and mission-critical innovation.

Ottawa’s broader infrastructure, including Area X.O, creates the environment in which companies like Anvil can test, refine, and deploy sovereign capability at pace. It is part of the region’s evolving role as Canada’s defence innovation engine, one driving operational readiness, resilience technologies, and next-generation intelligence capabilities.

A Company Built on Persistence — and Poised to Lead

Following the visit, Invest Ottawa President and CEO Sonya Shorey summed up Anvil’s impact and future:

“Anvil is a unicorn in the making. They are the next Shopify of defence. Their conviction is inspiring: ‘We believe Canada’s strategic advantage must be built at home.’ This is the horsepower driving our evolving strategy for Canada’s Capital Region as a global defence innovation hub. And Anvil is living proof of what is possible.”

Anvil’s story mirrors that framed Coolidge quote: persistence creates capability. Persistence builds sovereign intelligence. Persistence transforms a small Ottawa startup into one of the most significant defence companies emerging in Canada today.

Canada’s sovereign defence future is being forged right here in the Capital Region by a company that was “there before it was fun” and will persist long after trends shift, because the mission demands nothing less.

Ottawa is rising. Companies like Anvil are leading.

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Stay tuned for more local defence company spotlights to learn how they’re helping to fortify the Ottawa-Gatineau region as Canada’s Defence Innovation Hub.

• Inspired by Anvil’s mission and want to do work that matters? Visit Anvil’s careers page.
• Learn more about Invest Ottawa’s Defence Innovation Strategy and Canada’s Defence Innovation Hub at dihub.ca