Prime Minister Mark Carney is pursuing the country’s “strategic autonomy,” stating that the goal is to “protect Canada’s sovereignty in its fullest sense.
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday (17 February 2026) announced a multibillion-dollar plan marking a significant shift in Canada’s defense policy. The strategy prioritizes Canadian suppliers and manufacturers to achieve “strategic autonomy,” with the aim of boosting sector revenues by 240 percent, creating up to 125,000 jobs, and increasing exports by 50 percent over the next decade.
The plan seeks to strengthen the nation’s Armed Forces while reducing dependence on the United States. Presenting Canada’s first Defense Industrial Strategy (DIS) at an event in Montreal, Carney said, “The world is changing rapidly, and Canada must change with it,” citing the decline of the “rules-based international order” and the rise of new technologies.
“We have relied too heavily on others for our protection,” the prime minister said. “This has created vulnerabilities we can no longer afford and dependencies we can no longer sustain.”
Carney’s office stated that the defense industrial strategy represents “more than half a trillion Canadian dollars (US$366 billion) in security.”
“Protecting Sovereignty”
The Canadian leader emphasized that the DIS is intended to “protect Canada’s sovereignty in its fullest sense.”
“Security and prosperity are mutually reinforcing pillars of the True North, strong and free. Our new Defense Industrial Strategy ensures that Canada remains a sovereign nation, master of its own destiny,” he said.
The policy shift follows repeated annexation threats by U.S. President Donald Trump, Washington’s tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum exports, and closer ties between Ottawa and the European Union.
Carney has emerged as one of the most prominent global voices criticizing the Trump administration, particularly after his remarks at last month’s World Economic Forum, where he said the U.S. president had triggered a “rupture” in the global order.
