Waterloo region's tech companies 'tremendously excited' by federal plan to spend more on defence
Startups have developed technology for commercial and military use
Prime Minister Mark Carney's multi-billion dollar announcement to increase defence spending could be great news for Waterloo region tech companies who have developed solutions to protect soldiers and gather military intelligence.
At the Waterloo region nanotechnology company Alchemy, CEO Khanjan Desai says while working to develop technology for the automotive industry, they found a nanoparticle that can interact with thermal infrared electromagnetic radiation.
"[It's a] thermal camouflage technology using state-of-the-art nanoparticles that can be integrated into any textile, any paint, any coding to help mask the thermal or the heat signature of a soldier, a vehicle, a military encampment, et cetera," said Desai.
That means "a drone with a thermal camera in the sky can't spot soldiers as easily as they are being spotted right now on the Russia-Ukrainian war front."
Desai says Alchemy has been working with the Canadian Department of National Defence since about 2020. He welcomes the increase in funding.
"We are tremendously excited. We knew about the potential this technology has for protecting Canadian soldiers and Canadian lives and we've always wanted it to be something that we could bring to the finish line with the Canadian government before we brought it to the finish line with anyone else," Desai said
"This announcement, in my opinion, is incredibly exciting because it can allow us to do that. And obviously it would be a huge moment of pride for us to be able to bring it to the finish line as well with the Canadian DND."
Carney committed to spending an extra $9.3 billion on the armed forces by March of 2026, bumping the country's military spending up to two per cent of Canada's entire GDP.
Carney has also pledged to end this country's reliance on the U.S. for equipment by diverting billions of dollars in spending to Canadian manufacturers.
Dual purpose technology
Tech companies in the region have been creating what are called dual purpose items that can be used for the military and practical applications people could use on a daily basis.
Matthew Klassen, the vice president of external relations at Communitech, says companies in the region have technologies that can be used to solve a number of challenges.
"Maybe they are already being deployed in health care. Maybe they're already being used for things like fleet management, for HR, even for digital twins," said Klassen.
"Do they have an application in the battlefield? Or often as with cyber, you can have the technology that's protecting your child's school here in Canada and it could also be protecting a wastewater system or a hospital in Ukraine."
Klassen adds of particular interest to innovators in the region was the government highlighting artificial intelligence, cyber, quantum and space, along with secure digital infrastructure. He says these are areas where the universities and local companies have excelled.
LISTEN | Local tech companies hope to benefit from federal defence spending increase:
Eye in the sky
At Skywatch in Kitchener, CEO James Slifierz says they provide satellite imagery, aerial imagery and drone imagery, which can be used in commercial and military applications.
"In the oil and gas industry, our customers are using satellites to monitor remote oil pipelines to ensure there are no spills, to ensure their regulatory requirements to look at activity that might be happening near their oil pipelines. In construction, you're looking at the construction project, its development, the operations around the site," said Slifierz.
"And then in military, you're generally looking at and monitoring areas of conflict to see how the landscape is changing, how front lines are moving."
Slifierz says the need for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance are an extremely important component of any national security or defence operation.
He believes the military spending plan is an opportunity "to build a strong relationship with Ottawa and to demonstrate to Ottawa that Waterloo region can be the epicentre of technology development in Canada.
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