In response to the release of Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy, the President of AquaAction, Soula Chronopoulos, offered the following statement:
“We applaud the federal government for its strong recognition of the essential role that small and medium-sized enterprises play in building Canada’s defence industrial capacity. This strategy rightly emphasizes the need to invest in ourselves and in the innovators who will strengthen Canada’s resilience and competitiveness.
Water technologies are often dual-use technologies. The Strategy highlights key areas where water innovation is already relevant, including sensors, digital systems, and uncrewed platforms such as remote submarines. We implore the Government to consistently integrate water technologies into Canada’s procurement and innovation priorities.
In Eurasia Group’s Top Risks for 2026, ‘the Water Weapon’ is listed among the top ten global risks, reflecting how water is increasingly being weaponized in regional conflicts. We are already seeing these pressures in Sudan, the Middle East, and South Asia. Canada is not immune, as geopolitical tensions and intensive industrial activity along major waterways place growing strain on our shared water resources.
What excites me most are the concrete supports being offered to entrepreneurs, including the new $4 billion Defence Platform at the Business Development Bank of Canada, and the $379.2 million Regional Defence Investment Initiative to strengthen Canadian SMEs and integrate them into domestic and international defence supply chains.
Canadian watertech can be a force multiplier. Compact purification systems, AI-enabled monitoring, and atmospheric water extraction are already being explored by our allies. Here at home, companies such as Ottawa-based BluMetric Environmental are designing portable purification units for soldiers in forward positions.
AquaAction has long championed early-stage innovation, and we strongly agree that Canada must become better at moving critical discoveries from the lab into real-world deployment. That is exactly what we do through our AquaHacking program, now in its 16th iteration.
We also welcome the Strategy’s focus on opening Canadian Armed Forces ranges and operational environments as testbeds for Canadian industry. Like all dual-use technologies, water solutions require real-world pilot sites to de-risk and scale.
Embedding water innovation into Canada’s evolving defence spending commitments can strengthen our security while delivering lasting domestic benefits, including jobs, industrial capacity, and strategic export assets.
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At the end of the day, water security is national security. Water underpins our whole economy. Leading the solutions for a water-secure future will strengthen Canada’s security, sovereignty and prosperity.”
