Coordinating and Integrating the Defense Manufacturing Sectors of the United States and Canada

Summary

Both the United States and Canada are actively working to strengthen their respective defense industrial bases, acknowledging that future conflicts will be won not just through military power but through the capacity to manufacture at scale. The two nations are independently implementing new industrial policies — the U.S. through tools like the Defense Production Act and government equity stakes, while Canada has introduced its first Defence Industrial Strategy and a new Defence Investment Agency — yet both risk duplicating efforts, competing for the same resources, and reinforcing shared supply chain vulnerabilities if they fail to coordinate early. China's deliberate strategy of creating economic dependencies poses a shared threat, as both nations have experienced the consequences of over-reliance on Chinese-sourced critical minerals, materials, and defense components. Rather than pursuing either a fully merged industrial strategy or completely independent approaches, the authors argue that the most viable path forward is expanding and deepening existing frameworks of cooperation, such as the National Technology and Industrial Base, through co-production agreements, aligned demand signals, and reduced cross-border barriers. Key sectors where immediate collaboration would yield mutual benefits include shipbuilding, critical minerals processing, and munitions production, areas where complementary strengths between the two countries already exist.