Question Period Note: Defence Procurement Agency

The Government of Canada has committed to creating a new Defence Procurement Agency to modernize defence procurement.

• Speaker, this government will establish a Defence Procurement Agency to accelerate the acquisition of defence materials and services that our military needs to defend Canada and meet out international obligations
  • The Agency will streamline decision making and facilitate defence investments that will enhance the readiness of the Canadian Armed forces and contribute to international security

Defence procurement in Canada is divided across multiple ministers and accountabilities and layers of oversight from central agencies. To meet the Government’s commitment to accelerate spending on defence, reforms to defence procurement are needed. The new Agency will remove multiple points of accountability and introduce flexibilities in the procurement process.

In 2019, the Government of Prime Minister Trudeau committed to creating a defence procurement agency. The Minister of Public Services and Procurement, through the mandate letter, was directed to lead, with the support of the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, in bringing forward analyses and options for the creation of Defence Procurement Canada. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency was not pursued.

In 2013, the Government of Prime Minister Harper reportedly considered creating a defence procurement agency but opted instead for the Defence Procurement Strategy (2014) that is still used today to govern decision making.

Reforming defence procurement has been the subject of several reports and studies. The Standing Committee on National Defence tabled a wide-ranging report (June 2024) entitled, A Time for Change: Reforming Defence Procurement in Canada. In December 2024, the Auditor General of Canada tabled a report on the application of Industrial and Technological Benefits to defence procurements, noting areas for administrative improvements, and will be tabling a report on Canada’s Future Fighter Jets in Spring 2025. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has recently released reports on the incremental cost of procurements such as the Polar Icebreaker Project and the F-35s.

On 9 May 2025, the Prime Minister announced at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in Toronto that Canada will achieve NATO’s 2% GDP spending target this year and that a Defence Procurement Agency will be established.