Conference of Defence Associations Institute

The CDA Institute’s Climate Security Programme has launched a limited set of episodes of the Expert Series podcast highlighting key insights from the 4th Montreal Climate Security Summit (MCSS), co-hosted with NATO CCASCOE. Recorded following the 4th MCSS, our second episode features Director of the Climate Security Programme @Pauline Baudu in conversation with Dr. Andrew Heffernan, adjunct profes...

On today’s episode of The Expert Series Podcast, Climate Security Programme Director, Pauline Baudu talks with leading experts about Greenland and Arctic security amid renewed tensions triggered by the current U.S. administration’s annexation rhetoric and its implications for Canadian security and relations with European and NATO allies. The discussion explores why Greenland has re-emerged as a fo...

The role of Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) has become increasingly pivotal in response to a rapidly evolving global security environment. Created in 2005, the position was designed to address gaps in Canada’s national security architecture and to ensure the Prime Minister had a dedicated advisor to navigate the complex world of security and intelligence.  Since then, th...

On Today’s episode of The Expert Series Podcast, Dr. Roland Paris, Ben Rowswell, and Dr. Kamran Bokhari examine the recent U.S. strikes on Venezuela, the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, President Trump’s renewed discussion around the potential acquisition of Greenland, and what pivots in U.S. national security strategy and renewed focus on the Western hemisphere mean for Canadian and global s...

From the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump to the Defence Investment Strategy, Budget 2025, the CPSP downselection, Canada’s integration into ReArm Europe, and this summer’s NATO Summit announcement that Canada would meet the 2% GDP target for defence spending, General Tom Lawson, Wendy Gilmour, and Dr. Rob Huebert joined the season finale of The Expert Series to reflect on the most conse...

The 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy arrives, in the words of today’s panel, as a strikingly coherent and assertive statement of American strategic intent—a document whose internal consistency carries deeply worrying implications for Canada, Europe, and global stability.  It portrays a United States increasingly oriented toward a hemispheric, mercantilist posture, relying on coercive diplomacy...

The CDA Institute’s Climate Security Programme has launched a limited set of episodes of the Expert Series podcast highlighting key insights from the 4th Montreal Climate Security Summit (MCSS), co-hosted with NATO CCASCOE.  In our first episode, Director of the Climate Security Programme Pauline Baudu is joined by Eva Cohen, Founder & President of Civil Protection Youth Canada (CPYC), to disc...

On today's Expert Series, Paul Taillon and Howard Coombs joined us to discuss Canada's plan to expand its reserve forces, with goals to increase the primary reserve to 100,000 and the supplementary reserve to 300,000.  They discussed the key challenges, including inefficient recruiting systems, limited training capacity, and the need for better integration with regular forces. Other issu...

In 2022, Canada unveiled its Indo-Pacific Strategy, committing $2.3 billion to boost its role in a region increasingly seen as the geopolitical and economic center of gravity. Has Canada actually become a relevant player in the Indo-Pacific, or are we still on the outside looking in? And given how quickly things are shifting, is it time to revisit and update this strategy before it becomes outdate...

Canada's parliament has narrowly approved Prime Minister Mark Carney's first federal budget, allowing his minority Liberal government to avert an early election. The 2025 federal budget commits an additional $81.8 billion over five years to strengthen Canada’s defence capabilities, with a focus on modernizing military equipment, expanding digital infrastructure, and sustaining current de...

Canada has shortlisted two international shipbuilders, Germany's TKMS and South Korea's Hanwha Ocean, for its Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, which aims to replace the Royal Canadian Navy's aging Victoria-class submarines. The program plans to acquire up to 12 conventionally powered submarines with under-ice capability and extended endurance, with the first delivery targeted for...

Yesterday, as part of ongoing measures to streamline defence procurement, Prime Minister Carney and the Liberal government launched a Defence Investment Agency (DIA), tasked with accelerating the purchase and delivery of essential military equipment. The DIA aims to ensure that the CAF receives what it needs with minimal delay, while also promoting domestic industry growth. The agency’s creation c...

On this week's episode of The Expert Series, Anne Rifenstein sits down with Colonel (Ret'd) Stefan Boucher and Lieutenant General (Ret'd) Andrew Leslie to give a big picture analysis for the Canadian artillery's role over the next ten years for Canada. They point towards the reactionary approach to defence funding and how it addresses the Army, discuss the best pathways forward...

In early September, Poland reported a major escalation in Russian drone activity, with 19 drones penetrating Polish airspace. In response, Warsaw initiated consultations under Article 4 of the NATO treaty, a rare move that signalled concern the security of the entire Alliance.  Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also made a high-profile visit to Warsaw, where he met with Polish leaders and issued...

In response to an increasingly complex and competitive Arctic security environment, Canada has taken major steps to strengthen its maritime capabilities. Over the past year, this has included joining the trilateral "Ice Pact" with the U.S. and Finland, beginning construction on two heavy polar icebreakers, and integrating the Canadian Coast Guard into the Department of National Defence....

The River-class destroyer is needed to address the aging and retiring fleet of Iroquois and Halifax-class warships, whose capabilities no longer meet current and future operational demands. These new ships will ensure Canada maintains a credible naval presence to support national defence, international alliances, and emerging security challenges, particularly in strategic regions like the Indo-Pac...

Through Operation UNIFIER, Canada’s ongoing support for Ukraine demonstrates the critical role of middle powers in combatting contemporary security challenges. Since 2015, Op UNIFIER has provided training and advisory support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Helping to strengthen their capacity, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has served as a bridge to increase Ukrainian’s interoperability with othe...

The rapidly shifting international environment has sparked renewed interest in CANZUK cooperation as a potential axis for middle powers seeking to safeguard their autonomy and security. While Canada, Australia, the UK, and New Zealand have a long history of informal defence collaboration through arrangements like the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, formalizing CANZUK into a robust security partne...

As Arctic tensions rise, missile technologies advance, and U.S. foreign policy veers toward unilateralism, NORAD faces mounting pressure to evolve. But can it? And will Canada rise to meet the challenge alongside the United States, or risk being left behind? Furthermore, will Canada step into the BMD conversation? In this week’s installment of the Expert Series, Dr. James Fergusson joins us to unp...

The war in Ukraine is not just a regional conflict, it is a pivotal struggle over the future of liberal democracy, Western unity, and the global balance of power. With Russia pursuing expansionist aims, the West divided, and President Donald Trump reshaping U.S. foreign policy, the outcome of this war could determine whether democratic values or authoritarian spheres of influence define the next w...

With the Royal Canadian Navy facing urgent demands to grow its workforce, maintain aging ships, and prepare for increasingly complex security challenges in the Arctic and Indo-Pacific, can it balance immediate operational needs with long-term modernization? Today, Vice Admiral Angus Topshee, commander of the royal Canadian navy, joins us for a discussion on the future of the RCN, its challenges, p...

Charles Davies Joined the Expert Series to discuss the need for Canada to rethink its approach to national defence in response to a rapidly changing global security environment. Davies analyzes the impact of the changing global security environment on Canada’s defence posture and strategy, why its essential for Canada to shed its identity as a “small power” punching above its weight and embrace it...

This week, Canada sat with its allies at the Hague and agreed to triple its defence funding over the next 10 years. Former Defence Minister Peter MacKay joined us to discuss the outcomes of the 76th NATO Summit in The Hague, which saw commitment from all 32 NATO members to increase defence spending, the geopolitical drivers behind this shift, concerns over Canada’s deteriorating military capabilit...

On Monday, June 9th, 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada will accelerate its defence spending to reach 2% of GDP by the end of the 2025–2026 fiscal year, moving the target forward by several years. With Canada accelerating defence spending to 2% of GDP by 2025-26, how can the government and the CAF prepare for the far greater challenges and restructuring needed beyond just hitting th...

On Monday, June 9th, 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada will accelerate its defence spending to reach 2% of GDP by the end of the 2025–2026 fiscal year, moving the target forward by several years. CDAI Board Member and former NSIA to the Prime Minister, Vincent Rigby, joined the Expert Series to analyze the announcement, discussing the challenges of getting to 2%, matching new inves...