ADSE 2025: Industry and Government Focused Like Never Before
BY JOETEY ATTARIWALA
CDR is a proud media sponsor of the Aerospace Defence and Security Expo (ADSE). ADSE is presented by the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC), the national voice for advocacy and driving positive change to help Canada’s aerospace industry adapt, grow, innovate and scale, both domestically and internationally.
Celebrating its 15th year, ADSE has become known as a key meeting point for industry and government leaders as well key decision makers from across the aerospace sector. The intimate setting enables greater networking opportunities than most events, and its timing to precede the Abbotsford International Airshow is a major draw among participants. This year’s theme at ADSE was: Resilience & Readiness.
The presenting sponsor for ADSE this year was KF Aerospace which is headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia. Leading KF Aerospace is Tracy Medve, who discussed KF’s new leadership with the appointment of Gregg Evjen as President of KF Aerospace, effective September 1st, 2025.
PROGRESS ON FAcT
Medve spoke of KF Aerospace focusing on defence programs like Future Aircrew Training (FAcT), including aircraft acquisitions and infrastructure development. Of particular note, and indicative of her candid style, Medve highlighted the current disconnect between defence spending aspirations and actual implementation.
“We’re still seeing quite a disconnect between that aspiration and how it’s actually going to roll out. There’s just a big gap between – we have this money, this commitment to spend, and then how it’s actually going to get spent,” said Medve. “I think it’s encouraging that there’s been a focus on the procurement piece with Stephen Fuhr taking that role, but it’s not going to be easy, and we need it to happen quickly. So I guess as exciting as it all is, I think I need to just throw it out there that government is going to have to trust industry. You have to trust us — we’re there for the same reason that you are, to accomplish all these things.”
Medve also advocated for a dedicated Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace to better support Canada’s growth through intergovernmental synergies because as she rightly points out that Canada would and will not thrive if not for aviation.
Additional sponsors of this year’s ADSE were Pacific Economic Development Canada, Abbotsford International Airport, IMP Aerospace & Defence, Bombardier Aerospace, Saab, Conair, MTU Maintenance, KPMG, Bell Helicopters, General Dynamics Mission Systems Canada, Airbus and others. In addition, companies like KF Aerospace, JPOM, Landing Zones, FireSwarm Solutions and others exhibited on the showroom floor.
DEFENCE INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
COMING THIS FALL
Speaking on behalf of the Department of National Defence was Wendy Hadwen, Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy‑Industry, who discussed the department crafting a Defence Industrial Strategy. She highlighted the urgency driven by NATO and global security challenges, emphasizing the need for a coherent approach to leverage Canada’s diverse capabilities. Hadwen noted billions in investment and the importance of collaboration with NATO allies and domestic partners. She stressed the need for cultural change within the government to support industry, including better procurement policies and export controls. The strategy aims to integrate defence needs across various sectors, leveraging Canada’s advanced technologies and resources.
“There will be a Defence Industrial Strategy published by the government this fall. In the meantime, some actions have been taken already, and more actions are yet to come,” said Hadwen. “It will be an ongoing project though, it won’t be over the day we publish a document. I have been given a lot of advice from colleagues, and some of them in this room, that we should not concentrate on making that perfect document with perfect words, and we should instead concentrate on action.”
Hadwen added, “We started by reading everybody else’s defence industrial strategies, not because Canada is going to steal straight out from the European Union or Brazil, but more because this is unorthodox for Canada. We’re not prone to acknowledging our defence industries, never mind creating a strategy to help them connect with the government signal. So we went about reading what others have done. We’re not above stealing a good idea. And what did we find? Everybody’s strategies include something about sovereign capabilities. You can imagine therefore that Canada’s strategy will be the same.”
The most senior officer representing the Royal Canadian Air Force was Major-General Jeff Smyth, Chief Air and Space Force Development. MGen Smyth discussed the RCAF focus on integrating air and missile defence, emphasizing the need for significant investment in infrastructure and new capabilities. He highlighted the importance of explaining military threats to Canadians, noting billions in investment over the next decade, including $60 billion for infrastructure. MGen Smyth also stressed the need for agile industry collaboration, particularly in space and drone technologies to enhance Canada’s defence capabilities. He called for a culture shift in risk acceptance and efficiency to better defend the country, urging industry to adapt to higher security clearance requirements for innovative projects.
Numerous companies in the defence space presented at ADSE, including Arcfield, Saab, Bell, General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada, Bombardier Defense, Boeing, and De Havilland Aircraft of Canada.
CDR met with Al Meinzinger, President of Boeing Canada, who showcased the company’s commitment to British Columbia’s aerospace and defence sector and $345 million CAD in ITB investments as a result of Canada’s selection of the P-8A Poseidon aircraft for its long-range Multi-Mission Aircraft needs.
“Boeing’s ITB investments in Canada reflect our commitment to fostering innovation and supporting local communities,” said Meinzinger. “With 106 years of history in Canada and 500 suppliers spanning every province, we are proud to partner with Canadian organizations and invest in initiatives that will have a lasting impact on the aerospace industry and the communities we serve.”
CMMC 2.0
CDR also met with Jacques Comtois, Vice President of Arcfield Canada, who spoke about the company’s effort to achieve Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification 2.0 (CMMC 2.0) which requires third-party validation. This effort is much in line with what MGen Smyth spoke about. The CMMC certification is a key component of the Department of Defense’s expansive cybersecurity improvement effort, and Arcfield Canada understands that it is essential, particularly with their aspiration to work with the F-35 program. The CMMC program is designed to help ensure that defence contractors and subcontractors are compliant with existing information protection requirements for Federal Contract Information (FCI) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and are protecting that sensitive unclassified information at a level commensurate with the risk from cybersecurity threats, including advanced persistent threats.
“We’re again continuing to demonstrate to Canada that we’re not sitting back. We’re taking the lead, investing our own money, our own resources, to be ready,” said Comtois. “We believe that based on our fighter experience supporting the CF-18 for over 35 years, and by associating ourselves with One Logistics which has supported the F-35 since 2019, we think that we have the best mix of experience on both fleets. We strongly believe that we’re unique in that way, and we hope that this will pay off in coming weeks with an announcement to say Arcfield Canada is being selected to support the F-35 for supply chain management in Canada.”
CDR also met with Sylvain Menard, the new Country Director – Canada at RTX. “This is my first time at ADSE, and I am happy to represent RTX, the largest aerospace company in the world, and one of the three largest in Canada with 3,700 employees across 16 major locations. RTX has Canadian business units that include Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney Canada, and Raytheon Canada. I’m happy to say that ADSE was a great forum to have quality discussions with the leaders of the aerospace and defence industry, so it’s definitely something I will make sure to do in the future.”
A SINGLE POINT OF ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR DEFENCE PROCUREMENT
Arguably the most anticipated speaker during ADSE was the Honourable Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, who did not disappoint with his candid remarks. Fuhr emphasized the importance of aligning government and industry for a stronger defence sector. He discussed the need for a single point of accountability for defence procurement – the Defence Procurement Agency – aiming to streamline processes and ensure timely delivery. Fuhr noted the $63 billion defence spending commitment by 2026 and the $9.3 billion already allocated. He stressed the importance of leveraging Canadian industry, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, and the need for the Defence Industrial Strategy to guide future investments.
“Open, fair and transparent – I know that’s kind of the mantra of procurement. No one’s ever said, timely. We are trapped outside the technology cycle now with procurement – that’s a really bad place to be. It takes a decade to deliver a major capital program – you cannot exist in that space at the speed things are changing. We need to tighten that up, and we will tighten it up,” said Fuhr.
“We’re not leveraging industry in a way that we should or could,” Fuhr added. “We literally have unbelievable aerospace everywhere we go. We need to get everybody in the tent working together to deliver on a timeline that actually matters. We are stuck on a hamster wheel of unhappiness, and I don’t mean that in a negative way, but timely needs to be added on to whatever words we want to talk about when we talk about defence procurement. Open, fair, transparent and timely – I think it’s just transparent and timely. If the Government of Canada is going to make a decision to go somewhere, they just need to be real honest about why, and we need to move, and that’s kind of the space that we’re in right now.”
Joetey Attariwala is CDR’s Senior Staff Writer
