Ottawa to spend almost $2B over 4 years to buy 190 Canadian-made armoured vehicles

Canada will spend almost $2 billion over four years on 190 armoured combat support vehicles that will be built by London, Ont.-based General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Thursday. 

Speaking in the southwestern Ontario city, Carney told reporters that the new vehicles will boost Canada’s fleet of armoured combat support vehicles to 550 and will serve as key military assets for “decades to come.”

“Today’s announcement is our defence industrial strategy in action. Our bold plan to get our Armed Forces what they need, when they need it, to scale Canadian defence companies and to put hundreds of billions of dollars to work in the strategic sectors of our economy. We have a simple framework: build, partner, buy,” Carney said. 

The prime minister said that the partnership with General Dynamics is the first in the government’s strategic partnership framework, which will help Canada’s defence companies partner with Canadian industry.

WATCH | Carney announces armoured vehicle investment:

Carney announces nearly $2B for Canadian-built armoured vehicles

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Thursday a strategic partnership with General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada worth nearly $2 billion to build 190 armoured combat support vehicles in London, Ont. The deal will sustain 6,000 jobs yearly over eight years, Carney said.

Companies that become a strategic partner under the framework commit to investing in Canadian research and development, growing supply chains and hiring Canadian workers.

“And what happens in return, is that the federal government will act as an anchor customer — will accelerate approvals, will open doors to new export markets,” Carney said.

“The commitment is simple: when Canadian companies build for Canada, Canada will build right alongside them.”

A Canada-wide supply chain

Carney said that the partnership with General Dynamics will “create and sustain” more than 6,000 “high-paying Canadian jobs every year over the next eight years.”

Carney said some of those jobs include employees already working at General Dynamics.

The certainty that this new deal provides, the prime minister said, will give the company a base of predictability to invest in Canadian manufacturing.

Those jobs, the prime minister said, will be spread across the country with Ryan Manufacturing in Richmond, B.C., supplying the military-grade cable and wire harness assemblies. 

He also said Interpro in Regina will produce advanced armour, Thales Canada in Saint-Laurent, Que., will supply thermal imaging systems and IMP Aerospace & Defence in Enfield, N.S., will supply other specialized components.

Those companies, and others across the country, will send their components to General Dynamics which will assemble the vehicles in London, Carney said.

This announcement is the most recent in a string of high-profile military investments by the Liberal government that form the core of Carney’s defence industrial strategy designed to build up the military while strengthening Canada’s industrial base.

Those investments include a joint procurement project between Canada and 10 other NATO countries to buy up to 10 of Saab’s GlobalEye surveillance aircraft and a contract with German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) to replace Canada’s aging fleet of submarines with up to a dozen new vessels.

The submarine contract is expected to be worth $100 billion or more when including maintenance and sustainment costs.

WATCH | Canada unveils ‘Build at Home’ defence industrial strategy:

Canada unveils ‘Build at Home’ defence industrial strategy

The federal government has unveiled its ‘Build at Home’ defence industrial strategy, which shifts away from heavy reliance on the U.S. and other foreign suppliers and makes having military equipment built in Canada the default.

Carney said the Saab contract will include a commitment to support 3,000 Canadian jobs and ensure that one-third of the projected global fleet of the aircraft is manufactured in Canada.

The details of the submarine contract are still being worked out but the company’s bid for the contract could deliver an $86-billion boost to Canada’s gross domestic product and create over 654,695 job years of employment over the lifetime of the deal.

Carney said these investments are needed to deter Russian aggression in Europe and assert Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic.

“If we’re to defend and promote our values of freedom, democracy, peace, we must do so from a position of strength,” Carney said. “If we want a stronger world, if we want a safer world, we need a stronger Canada.”