Canada is launching two multimillion-dollar procurement projects to strengthen the Canadian Armed Forces.
Secretary of State and Kelowna MP Stephen Fuhr made the announcements at separate events on Wednesday and Thursday, March 18 and 19, outlining plans to support the country’s space surveillance and bring modern equipment to the military.
The investments, which combined total $339 million, are part of a larger plan to revitalize the CAF.
Fuhr’s Defence Investment Agency (DIA) facilitated both the investments. Fuhr told Black Press that the DIA has sped up the procurement processes of these items.
“Our department is solely focused on procurement, so instead of defence procurement being spread across three or four different departments, the projects that we have, we have integrated procurement teams under one roof, so we don’t have duplication of effort. Everyone’s doing what they need to do,” he said.
“And more importantly, we chose procurement paths, because there are a number of different ways you can procure things. We chose procurement paths that effectively got these projects to the finish line faster than they otherwise would have gone.”
Colt Canada, based in Kitchener, ON, received the larger of the recently announced contracts and will be getting $307 million to modernize rifles in the CAF.
Currently, the CAF is using a fleet of C7 and C8 assault rifles, which have been in service for more than 35 years.
Today, the Canadian government announced it is paying $307 million for 30,000 General Service (GS) rifles, which will be rolled out over a three-year period.
“The army’s thrilled, they needed those (new) weapons,” he said.
A further 35,402 new rifles will be acquired within four years during a second phase of procurement for the weapons. Fuhr said it’s too early to estimate the price of what these remaining rifles will cost and won’t announce it until a much later date.
He added that the Colt Canada deal is a “flagship example” of the Canadian government’s future military procurement plans.
The rifles will be built in Southern Ontario, and Fuhr said the manufacturing plant making the weapons plans to increase Colt Canada’s workforce from 130 to 200 people. Furthermore, 80 per cent of the parts used to make the weapon will be from Canadian supply chains.
Once implemented into the armed forces, the rifles will be used across the country. Fuhr added that in Kelowna, the British Columbia Dragoons will also receive the upgrades.
Announced on March 18, Canadian company MDA Space are receiving $32 million for the three remotely-operated telescopes that will be located in Alberta, Manitoba and New Brunswick. Fuhr said the telescopes will be up-and-running by 2028.
Fuhr said the MDA space telescopes are another example of championing domestic companies.
“The engineering, which is kind of the big value part of it, was done in Richmond,” he said.
Aside from MDA’s Richmond research branch, the Canadian company is headquartered in Brampton, Ontario and has a manufacturing and test facility in Montreal, Quebec.
The telescopes will support the Surveillance of Space 2 project – a system of sensors and monitors deep space objects. According to the Canadian government, the telescopes will support nearly 80 jobs and contribute $9 million annually to Canada’s GDP for the next six years.
“It’s supporting Canadian business and Canadian tech, and it’s what the armed forces need,” Fuhr said.
“It’s great for the country. There’ s a whole bunch of other (procurement) projects coming our way. And again, we’re trying to make sure the CAF gets what they need in a timely fashion while we build out our Canadian economy,” Fuhr said.
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