Canadian shipyards should share the cost of backing suppliers
By Al Vigier, 28 October 2026
At the Vancouver Convention Centre on 19 October, I heard Seaspan announce a venture capital fund for Canadian defence, marine and dual-use companies. It’s a useful move. I’d like to see Irving and Davie put money into it too.
Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy has three partners building large vessels: Irving in Halifax; Seaspan in North Vancouver; and Davie in Lévis. For a small company selling equipment or software into those programs, each yard matters. Taking investment from one could make selling to the others more complicated.
Put yourself in a buyer’s chair. A supplier looks promising, but a rival shipyard owns part of it. How much can that rival see? Will it get first call when production is tight? Those questions could cost a supplier business, even without an exclusivity clause in sight.
The following day, I sat on a panel at the same convention centre about the hurdles small firms face in defence procurement. I keep coming back to what I call the prime gate. A company can have a good product and still need a large contractor’s backing to get it into a program. An investment that helps with one customer shouldn’t complicate the next sales call.
The yards have plenty of common needs. Last year, Seaspan signed an agreement with Stigterstaal Canada and Algoma Steel to explore rebuilding a domestic steel supply chain. That kind of capacity could serve more than one shipyard. The same is true of many smaller suppliers that need money to develop products, buy equipment or hire people.
The three yards should back a common fund, managed independently, whose portfolio companies remain free to sell to any customer. No yard should be able to block another’s purchase or insist that a supplier turn down outside work.
Trending now:
- Canadian Shipyards Should Share the Cost of Backing Suppliers
- Canadian Naval Strategy
- The Future of Asterix
- Defence Crown Corporation: A Solution?
- CNR sponsors: visit page
Preview CNR Next Issue: Vol. 22 No. 2 (2026)
Alas, summer is over. But it’s not just snow and sleet and ice coming in the future – the fall issue of CNR is coming too! A new issue will be out soon. Here is a preview of what’s in the issue.
In his Editorial “The Art of Naval Thought,” Brian Santarpia notes that “the RCN dedicates relatively little effort to professional education in the foundations of strategic thought,” and that this is unfortunate. To start off the line-up of interesting articles, we have the winning essay of the 2026 CNMT essay competition. The author, C.A.M. Al Wahi, won with an impressive essay entitled “Vulnerable Arteries: Protecting Critical Subsea Infrastructure and the RCN’s Mandate.” Our second article, “A Submarine-First Royal Canadian Navy?” argues that, as Canada’s main strategic asset, submarines should receive more focus in the RCN. Our third article, “Slow Procurement is Canada’s Greater Risk,” outlines problems and solutions in the military procurement process from the perspective of a Canadian company. The next article, “Of Hulls and Sailors: Why Fleet Recapitalization Depends on Personnel Generation,” focuses on the importance of ensuring there are enough trained personnel as a crucial element of naval capability. The final article discusses HMCS Sackville and the ship’s recommissioning ceremony in the spring.
We have a good selection of Making Waves commentaries. There is material about the future US Arctic Security Cutters, discussion of the importance of trained personnel, underwater surveillance in the Arctic, and suggestions about the design of Canadian amphibious forces.
And, of course, we have our regular columns. In “Allies of Necessity: Japan and South Korea,” “A View from the West” looks at the uneasy relationship between two key players in the Indo-Pacific region. “Dollars and Sense” examines the shift from austerity to abundance in defence, and “Warship Developments” updates us on Tomahawks and aircraft carriers.
No issue of CNR would be complete without the amazing photos! And there are many of them!
Stay tuned. In a few weeks, the issue will be available to people who are lucky enough to be subscribers! It’s not too late for you to subscribe. See here for the Table of Contents.
CNR resources
- CNR Archives
- Subject Index for CNR Articles
- Broadsides Forum - Join the Discussion
- Submissions to Canadian Naval Review
- Subscriptions - unlock access to all CNR materials
- Sponsor page
- Free CNR articles and PDF downloads
- Follow us on Bluesky and LinkedIn
- Donate to CNR
- Special offer
Read more: CNR Archives (75 magazines in PDF) and Subject Index
Looking for Books about Maritime Matters?
Over the last 20 years, Canadian Naval Review has published over 200 book reviews. These books cover a variety of topics but they all relate to maritime matters, history, or security and defence at sea. This is an amazing resource. Go through the list of reviews, pick out a few books that look interesting, read the reviews, and then order the books from your nearest bookstore or from the publisher. See the list of book reviews at https://www.navalreview.ca/book-reviews/