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Canada’s STEM Hub
Calgary has the highest concentration of STEM talent per capita in Canada.
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700 NM²
Calgary is near the Foremost UAS Test Range, the first and only restricted airspace in Canada authorized for advanced drone testing with 700 sq. nautical miles.
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Built for resilience
The Calgary region sits within one of Canada's most concentrated defence and training corridors.
Calgary’s dual-use edge
“Dual-use technologies” are built for civilian markets, but can also be adapted to serve Canada’s defence and security needs.
Think about the technology Calgary companies use every day: drones inspect infrastructure or fields, sensors map industrial sites and cyber security protects critical systems. Here, these same capabilities can be adapted for defence applications to strengthen our sovereignty and ability to protect national interests.
The Blue Sky City offers a rare combination of:
- An established engineering and manufacturing base
- Applied AI and cybersecurity development & adoption
- A skilled industrial and STEM workforce experienced in regulated, safety-critical industries
- A growing critical mass of primes and contractors fulfilling federal defence contracts
- Capacity for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and extreme cold-weather testing
- Competitive operating costs and room to scale
- Post-secondary programs co-created with industry to fill in-demand skills
- Strategic location connecting one of Canada’s most concentrated defence and training corridors to the Arctic and northern-operating environments
- Global connectivity with direct air routes, continental rail and road network
Emerging defence strengths
Canada’s defence priorities are increasingly focused on sovereign capability, secure supply chains, operational readiness and technologies that perform in complex and remote environments. Calgary’s cross-sector strengths in energy, tech and aerospace create the natural foundation to develop and scale the solutions required to modernize Canada’s defence capabilities .
Uncrewed and autonomous systems & UAS
Digital systems
Aerospace components & avionics
In-service support & Maintenance, Repair and Overall (MRO)
Training and simulation
Space technologies & sensors
Specialized manufacturing
Defence and aerospace primes in Calgary
Defence primes are already on the ground in Calgary – an important signal for program work, teaming and supply chain depth. These anchor companies create direct channels into Canadian programs and allied supply chains in collaboration with local small and medium-sized businesses.
Dual-use technology scaleups
ConvergX
ConvergX’s Xpand Commercialization Zone is built for companies that are past the prototype stage and need a faster path to defence use-case adoption. As a free resource for innovators, it fills the “last mile” gap by matching proven tech solutions with defence challenges, so companies can help fulfil defence contracts without starting over or navigating the system alone.
NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA)
SAIT’s Centre for Innovation and Research in Advanced Manufacturing and Materials (CIRAMM) is home to one of the thirteen NATO DIANA test centres in Canada. Here, startups have access to facilities and research experts to test and validate dual-use solutions that strengthen Allied security and preparedness.
Canadian UAVs
Headquartered in Calgary, Canadian UAVs is a leader in unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services to the Canadian Armed Forces. The company is Canada’s only RPAS company granted BVLOS certification by Transport Canada and partners with local companies including Aerium Analytics, Lockheed Martin Skunkworks and Datsa Dynamics to translate its drones for applications in the energy and agriculture sector.
Landing Zones Canada Inc.
A Southern Alberta leader in uncrewed aerial systems, Landing Zones Canada was the first recipient of investment from BDC’s $300M StrongNorth Fund. The firm supports the advancement of reusable systems capable of operating in the stratosphere for commercial and defence applications.
RPAS testing sites in the Calgary region
Proximity to large-scale test ranges, BVLOS airspace, cold-weather conditions and hazardous-use tolerances allow Calgary-based firms to quickly move from prototype to operational readiness.
BVLOS Innovation Centre
Calling Calgary home, BVLOS Innovation Centre accelerates the adoption of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) solutions. The organization helps companies achieve BVLOS approvals for operations.
Foremost UAS Test Range
Located three hours from Calgary, the Foremost UAS Test Range offers over 700 square nautical miles of Class F restricted airspace for BVLOS testing. With airspace extending up to 18,000 feet above sea level, the range is a critical hub for high-altitude endurance private testing for drone technologies in defence, agriculture and long-range logistics.
Aerospace components & avionics
Calgary’s industrial and energy roots have built a deep expertise and culture of safety-critical operations, traceability, reliability and uptime.
Today, those strengths mean the city is home to everything from aircraft maintenance and avionics support to precision manufacturing, with local companies keeping complex systems operating in some of the world’s most demanding environments.
Dynamic Source Manufacturing (DSM)
Calgary-based DSM manufactures high-reliability electronics for aerospace, defence and security OEMs, supporting applications including communications, navigation, autonomous systems, avionics, sensing and embedded control systems.
General Dynamics Mission Systems – Canada
With a significant presence in Calgary, local teams at General Dynamics Mission Systems – Canada integrate communications, intelligence, surveillance and command systems for the Canadian Armed Forces, including technology used across military vehicles and land operations.
Calgary MRO & in-service support
Civilian and military aircrafts touch down to get fixed in Calgary. Here, maintenance and long-term support work happens close to the people, suppliers and facilities needed to turn repairs around quickly and reliably.
Arcfield Canada supports Canada’s CF-18 fleet, and Lufthansa Technik’s engine test cell facility at YYC adds major credibility for engine work – both reinforcing Calgary as a practical home base for sustainment work.
Arcfield Canada
Headquartered in Calgary, Arcfield Canada plays a direct role in keeping Canada’s fighter fleet ready by providing CF-18 avionics in-service support. In March 2024, the firm won a $211.6M federal contract to help sustain the Royal Canadian Air Force’s CF-18 fleet operationally ready with its supply of over 50,000 line items of spare parts.
Lufthansa Technik
Lufthansa Technik invested in Calgary’s MRO capacity with a $120M engine maintenance facility and integrated test cell at YYC International airport, bringing critical engine work onshore. The operation focuses service on LEAP-1B engines for Boeing 737 Max aircraft in Canada’s first test cell for latest-generation aircraft engines.
SAIT’s Centre for Innovation and Research in Advanced Manufacturing and Materials
SAIT’s Centre for Innovation and Research in Advanced Manufacturing and Materials (CIRAMM) helps companies and researchers prove advanced manufacturing concepts – so ideas don’t get stuck in the lab. Through academia-industry partnerships and specialized research facilities, the centre advances additive manufacturing, materials, AI, robotics and automation solutions.
Learn about Centre
Vizworx
Calgary-based Vizworx translates complex data into applied AI and data visualization tools. Supported through the Government of Canada’s Regional Defence Investment Inititiative (RDII), the company is advancing dual-use digital systems for both commercial and defence applications.
GHGSat
With a footprint in Calgary, GHGSat is a global leader in space-based sensing, using its satellite constellation and advanced sensors to monitor industrial activity from orbit, turning that data into actionable intelligence for companies and governments.
Quantum City
Housed at the University of Calgary, startups, researchers and industry partners use Quantum City to develop and apply next-generation quantum technologies. The hub focuses on the development of quantum infrastructure, talent development programs and commercialization pathways.
Learn about Quantum City
Calgary’s defence corridor infrastructure
Calgary has deep military roots – and today we sit inside Canada’s most concentrated defence and training corridor that links military bases, training facilities, research and operations. This proximity matters because it makes collaboration and testing easier to organize – and faster to execute.
AIR FORCE
4 Wing Cold Lake is the busiest Canadian Armed Forces fighter base in Canada, and currently tests CF18 fighter jets maintained by Calgary-based Arcfield Canada.
ARMY
Three hours from Calgary, the Canadian Forces Base in Suffield is the largest military training area in Canada with 2,700 km² of restricted testing space.
NAVY
Located in the heart of Calgary, HMCS Tecumseh supports naval reserve training as one of Canada’s naval training bases.
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Home to Canada’s fourth-busiest airport, the YYC Calgary International airport supports 75 per cent of Alberta’s cargo apron, designed to handle all weather conditions.
Get in touch
Ready to explore opportunities in Calgary’s defence and dual-use technology sector? Our team can help:
Carrie Chase
Business Development Manager, Defence
Simon Burke
Business Development Associate, Defence