MINDS Defence Policy Challenges 2025-26

The Challenge

Canada’s 2024 defence policy, Our North, Strong and Free (ONSAF), provides significant investments in new capabilities to deter threats to the continent, and places an increased focus on the protection of Canada’s Arctic and northern priorities. In a divided world, a strong and free Canada is essential to North American security and to reinforcing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) deterrence posture. Canada, in partnership with domestic partners and the United States (U.S.), must be prepared to protect the continent on all fronts. This includes countering various threats and challenges from adversaries exploiting gaps in domestic and continental defences, as well as addressing the impacts of climate change, which is affecting defence infrastructure and operations and Canadians more broadly. This is especially true in Canada’s Arctic and Northern regions, where asserting our sovereignty and responding to a wide range of intersecting security challenges has become particularly urgent.

However, the rapidly shifting security landscape is bringing new and urgent demands to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Canada is now at a pivotal moment. As a country, we are confronting intersecting threats to our sovereignty, national security, and long-term economic resilience. Now more than ever, Canada must have a ready, resilient and relevant force, capable of detecting, deterring and defeating threats to Canada and North America.

Research Questions

• What are the policy implications for new or modernized force structures, capabilities, infrastructure, and technologies needed to enhance the Defence Team’s presence, operational effectiveness, and sustainment in the Arctic?
• How could the Defence Team mitigate and prevent attacks on Canada’s critical infrastructure (CI), including defence installations, energy generation, communications, and transportation systems? What new or updated policies, authorities, and other tools are required?
• How could defence capability development processes be structured to better incorporate joint operational requirements and data integration from the outset, ensuring that planning and platform design support an integrated, future-ready force aligned with evolving operational and strategic needs?
• What innovative models of national service or societal mobilization could Canada adopt to strengthen the Defence Team’s capacity and resilience, while fostering civic engagement, security preparedness, and national unity?
• How could the Defence Team enhance cooperation with Northern communities and Indigenous partners, federal, provincial, and territorial partners, as well as the private sector, to address evolving threats and build climate resilient, dual-use or multi-purpose infrastructure?
• How could the Defence Team better leverage the Canadian Rangers for greater presence, reach, mobility and responsiveness in the Arctic and North, and maximize operational effectiveness across the full spectrum of domestic and continental defence priorities?
• What challenges and opportunities does the evolving geopolitical landscape present for Canada and the future of bilateral Canada-U.S. defence cooperation?
• In what areas could the Defence Team pursue leadership and collaboration with non-Arctic states to advance Canada’s priorities in the region? Are there considerations for the Defence Team in cooperating with their counterparts in non-Arctic states on Arctic-related issues?
• Beyond NATO, what role could other multilateral fora play regarding defence and security in the North? How could the Defence Team leverage participation in multilateral bodies, and which additional partnership avenues could be explored?
• What are the emerging pan-domain threats to Canada and North America, and how could the Defence Team combat adversaries exploiting gaps and seams in domestic and continental defences?
• How could the Defence Team leverage whole-of-society approaches and better partner with different levels of government, industry, and civil society for national emergency management?
• How could the Defence Team enhance engagement with provincial and territorial governments, and Northern and Indigenous Partners – in particular with Inuit treaty partners across Inuit Nunangat – to fulfill Canada's commitments towards reconciliation and meaningful consultation with Indigenous Peoples through domestic defence and security capabilities/operations?
• How could the Defence Team advance defence priorities and operations and cross-cutting issues in the Arctic and North, including climate resilience, social and economic development, and the implementation of Women, Peace and Security (WPS)?

The Challenge

Ensuring a robust, well-equipped and strategically agile Defence Team is critical to defending Canada’s sovereignty, its people, democracy, and freedom. This is especially true in an era marked by geopolitical fragmentation, emerging below-threshold threats, and global instability.

Attracting and retaining top talent is essential for operational readiness, procurement efforts, infrastructure revitalization, and capability modernization. To optimize recruitment and retention, it is essential that the employment conditions of the Defence Team correspond to today’s realities and members have the necessary tools in hand to detect, deter and defend against threats to, or attacks on, Canada.

Despite significant improvements, the underlying personnel management system still requires structural reform to reflect the current operational and societal context. This includes integrating intersectional, trauma-informed approaches, particularly in Northern and Indigenous engagement, to ensure policies and practices are inclusive, culturally responsive, and grounded in lived experience. By strengthening the foundations and continuing to prioritize our people, we will ensure that Canada can continue to build and deploy forces that are ready, resilient and relevant to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Research Questions

• How could Canadian defence policies address recruitment and retention challenges in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), and what evidence-based strategies could enhance workforce sustainability?
• What would be required to improve access to healthcare, childcare, eldercare, housing, spousal employment for military families, and other support services? What best practices from other countries could the Defence Team apply?
• How could the Defence Team best attract, recruit, and retain talent in advanced technology sectors and in-demand trades? What tools or emerging technologies could be most effectively leveraged to enhance the Defence Team’s overall performance to foster innovation, improve operational agility, and enable more strategic use of time, talent, and resources?
• How could the Reserve Force contribute to increasing CAF readiness and resilience? Are new models and policies required? What policies or enablers would need to be in place?
• How could the Defence Team better leverage military and civilian positions to provide greater flexibility for members and maximize efficiencies within the organizations? Are there best practices from other countries the Defence Team could apply?
• How could Defence Team leadership foster a culture of innovation, while also modeling ethical and inclusive governance? What policies or enablers would need to be in place?
• How could the Defence Team best measure progress and impact in culture change? What indicators and data governance mechanisms could be used to measure such change and ensure policies are having the intended impact?

The Challenge

With rising global instability, increasingly fragile supply chains, and the accelerating pace of technological change, Canada must build up its defence industrial base and diversify its defence partnerships and investments. The ability to rapidly produce, acquire, and sustain military capabilities is essential for Canada’s sovereignty, national security, economic resilience, and technological leadership. Also, while the United States (U.S.) remains an important ally, strengthening our defence industrial capacity for the benefit of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) means enhancing our defence relationships and industry dialogues with other allies and partners.

The Defence Team is leading the development of a Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) to ensure that Canada has secure, timely, and reliable access to the capabilities needed to defend the country, protect our sovereignty, and meet current and future threats. In practice, the DIS will strengthen Canada’s capabilities in traditional defence industries as well as develop dual-use technologies with defence applications, in areas such as quantum and Artificial Intelligence (AI), while leveraging CAF infrastructure to enhance national resilience through strengthened supply chains and transportation links, particularly in the North. A DIS is crucial to reinforce Canada’s sovereignty and will be key in defining how Canada will work alongside industry and partners to strengthen the CAF and safeguard Canada’s security.

Research Questions

• How could the Defence Team help grow collaboration with domestic industry to develop dual-use technologies with defence applications, maximize the benefits for Canadians, and share the risk while accelerating innovation and investment?
• What opportunities exist for Canada to strengthen its resilience to external shocks and continue to ensure timely, reliable, and secure access to the supply chains required for critical minerals, raw materials, and defence inputs and resources required to develop key CAF capabilities?
• Considering the opportunities and vulnerabilities that hostile foreign adversaries are exploiting to increase their military advantage, what tools and authorities could the Defence Team implement to further protect our defence industry and economic interests?
• How could the Defence Team deepen domestic partnerships with academia, think tanks, provinces, territories, and Indigenous communities and organizations to leverage its DIS in advancing a whole-of-nation approach that strengthens Canada’s strategic advantage, harnesses Canadian ingenuity, and drives economic growth and development?
• As Canada diversifies its security partnerships and defence industrial arrangements, how could the Defence Team work with European and Indo-Pacific partners to strengthen Canada’s defence industry, increase co-production, and leverage joint procurement opportunities?
• What reforms could Canada’s defence industrial base and procurement processes incorporate to better advance national priorities of Indigenous reconciliation, environmental sustainability, and inclusive innovation?
• What capabilities or domains could Canada prioritize to strengthen sovereign capabilities while supporting credible deterrence and reinforcing trust and interoperability with allies? What could the Defence Team learn from allies’ recent defence procurement centralization efforts?

The Challenge

The stable and predictable world in which Canada has prospered is under strain. The established rules of international relations – the respect for sovereignty, adherence to international law, and foundational commitments to human rights – have been challenged or undermined. Strategic competition over international norms and rules is intensifying across all domains and adversaries are seeking to redefine the international order or advance their interests at the expense of others.

Both state and non-state actors are actively challenging the international rules-based order in physical and digital domains by exploiting emerging technologies and new capabilities. Separately, the accelerating pace of climate change is intensifying competition over resources, driving displacement and migration, and contributing to rising geopolitical tensions.

In this interconnected world, such threats have direct consequences at home, and Canada must have a ready, resilient, and relevant force to detect, deter, defend against, and defeat new and accelerating threats to our sovereignty and security.

Research Questions

• What new or enhanced authorities and/or capabilities could the Defence Team implement to detect, deter, defend against, and defeat adversaries?
• How could the Defence Team deter and defend against adversaries operating below the threshold of armed conflict? What mechanisms could the Defence Team employ to more effectively integrate its efforts with other government departments, other levels of government, industry, civil society, and international partners to advance a cohesive whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to national defence and security?
• In what ways does the defence of North America contribute to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) collective security? What mechanisms for cooperation could be implemented to improve the ability of Canada and its allies to defend against transregional threats to North America?
• How could the Defence Team lead and contribute to new mini-lateral or regional alliances (e.g., within Latin America and the Caribbean), or leverage existing arrangements (e.g., Five Eyes), to support defence and security objectives?
• What lessons could the Defence Team draw from its engagement in Ukraine, Eastern and Northern Europe, the Arctic, and the Indo-Pacific to inform broader strategic posture and readiness?
• What strategic opportunities exist to expand the Defence Team’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific, and how could partnerships with Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, and/or Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries be strengthened?
• What are the strategic and operational implications of deepening cooperation between countries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea for Canada and its closest allies and partners? How could defence policy adapt to advance Canadian Armed Forces operational priorities to counter this trend?
• In what ways does strategic competition intersect with non-traditional threats (e.g., climate-driven insecurity, supply chain fragility, trade wars), and how could the Defence Team adapt?

The Challenge

The accelerating development and employment of cyber, space, autonomous systems and emerging and disruptive technologies – by allies and adversaries alike – is reshaping the character of conflict and the strategic environment in which the Defence Team must operate. These technologies are no longer peripheral – they are central to advanced military capabilities, national security, and economic prosperity, and present threats and opportunities for Canada to continue to successfully defend and advance Canadian interests, at home and abroad.

Ensuring strategic advantage in this environment requires a whole-of-society approach: one that integrates responsible innovation, resilient infrastructure, procurement, and trusted partnerships across government, industry, and academia. The Defence Team must anticipate, adapt, and act to secure Canada’s interests with these technologies and in these contested and interconnected domains.

Research Questions

• What are the key elements of a credible deterrence posture in the cyber and space domains? How could the Defence Team tailor its approach to reflect the unique characteristics of these domains?
• What strategic investments and partnerships with industry could the Defence Team pursue to effectively operate in the cyber and space domains, including during conflict? How could these investments and partnerships manage risk for industry partners?
• How could the Defence Team better support the promotion of norms of responsible behaviour in space, cyber, or in the use of emerging and disruptive technologies while balancing international obligations, defence considerations and technological advancements?
• Which areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum technologies are most likely to revolutionize defence and national security and how? What defence policy adjustments could be made, now and in the future?
• How could the Defence Team best partner with and leverage the strength of Canada’s quantum and AI industries to both seize emerging opportunities and mitigate associated risks, while ensuring success in a quantum and AI-enabled military environment?
• What emerging disruptive technological trends (e.g. deepfakes, uncrewed systems, etc.) could the Defence Team anticipate? How could they be addressed in defence policy development?
• Which governance models, procurement strategies, and international best practices could support secure, ethical, and rapid innovation in defence?
• How could the Defence Team ensure its digital systems are interoperable, reliable, and aligned with those of its allies?
• How could the Defence Team increase its competitive advantage in the military domain and accelerate its development and integration of emerging and disruptive technologies and advanced capabilities at the speed of relevance? What new or enhanced policies or authorities could be required?