Canada has launched a national drone marketplace for the Canadian Armed Forces and Coast Guard, awarding initial contracts for six uncrewed systems in a procurement push linked to deeper defence cooperation with Ukraine. The first batch includes four uncrewed aircraft systems and two uncrewed ground vehicles, with Canada aiming to ramp up domestic drone production and broaden access for Canadian suppliers.
The selected systems are the AVSS Drone D1, Volatus Aerospace Huntsman X6, Draganfly Astiia, Objexis AI MAQ-C, Twenty20 Insight XRC RHINO and Beonyx VTSE-TC. Ottawa modelled the marketplace on Ukraine’s Brave1 framework to speed up buying decisions and help scale local manufacturing, while the government expects the new contracts to increase the Canadian Armed Forces’ drone inventory tenfold.
Canada and Ukraine also signed a defence-industrial cooperation declaration covering joint development and co-production of uncrewed systems, counter-drone technologies and related equipment. A separate business-to-business deal brings General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada together with Ukrainian partner Green Tech Harvest to develop and produce drones and drone-related technologies.
Prime Minister Mark Carney tied the procurement drive directly to Ukraine support, saying one-third of the drones produced under the initiative will go to Kyiv. The broader package was unveiled in Calgary alongside a 100-year bilateral partnership declaration, underlining a wider push into defence, security and industrial collaboration.