Canada launches drone marketplace in Ukraine support push
Mon, 14th Sep 2026 (Today)
Ottawa has launched a national defence drone marketplace and announced new military, energy and reconstruction support for Ukraine during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Canada.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the new Defence Drone Initiative Marketplace Supply Arrangement would connect the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Coast Guard with domestic drone suppliers. Initial contracts worth up to CAD $50 million have already been awarded, and the move is expected to increase the Canadian Armed Forces' drone inventory tenfold.
The marketplace is intended to give approved users access to nearly 400 Canadian suppliers of uncrewed and counter-uncrewed systems. Allies and partners will also be able to use the system, which is modelled on Ukraine's Brave1 defence technology platform.
The first round of procurement covers intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drones, as well as uncrewed ground vehicles. The government named Beonyx, AVSS, Volatus Aerospace, Twenty20 Insight, Draganfly and Objexis AI as suppliers.
Several selected platforms combine Canadian assembly, software or sustainment work with technology developed abroad. The contracts require training, maintenance, repair, configuration and sustainment to take place in Canada.
The government also highlighted a new industrial partnership between General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada and Ukrainian company Green Tech Harvest to develop and produce drones and related technologies. That arrangement builds on an earlier partnership between Airlogix and Sentinel Research & Development announced earlier in May.
Alongside the procurement measures, Canada announced about CAD $350 million for air defence interceptors for Ukraine through the US-led Joint Ukraine Multinational Program - Services, Training and Articles Rapid Timeline, known as JUMPSTART. The mechanism allows allies to use their financial contributions for equipment that addresses changing Ukrainian defence needs.
Another nearly CAD $23 million will support Ukraine's wider security architecture, including police, the National Guard, the military and communities near the front line, as well as programs to counter hybrid threats and disinformation.
Canada and Ukraine also agreed to pursue a longer-term government-to-government partnership for joint production of uncrewed systems, counter-drone technologies and priority munitions. The arrangement is designed to combine Ukrainian battlefield experience with Canadian manufacturing, software and artificial intelligence.
In the same announcement, Ottawa revealed details on several measures to help Ukraine withstand further attacks on its energy network. These include nearly CAD $435 million in new loan guarantees to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for winter gas purchases and secondary power generators.
Export Development Canada will provide CAD $200 million in concessional loans to support reconstruction projects. The facility is intended to help Canadian companies take part in repairs to critical infrastructure.
Canada also pledged an additional CAD $10 million to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, bringing its total contribution to CAD $100 million. A further CAD $2 million will go to the International Energy Agency Joint Work Program to support Ukraine's energy resource development, regulation and clean energy projects.
Beyond military and energy support, Canada will provide up to CAD $40.1 million to help implement Ukraine's National Veteran Strategy. The funding is intended to support recovery, rehabilitation and civilian transition for veterans and their families through a multi-donor pooled fund that Canada is helping to design.
Ottawa also announced up to CAD $6 million for efforts to trace, return and reintegrate Ukrainian children who were unlawfully deported or forcibly transferred by Russia. At the same time, it imposed sanctions on eight individuals linked to violations of Ukrainian children's rights.
Canada co-chairs the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children with Ukraine. The latest funding will support tracing and verification work, as well as rehabilitation and community-based services after children return home.
The announcements bring Canada's overall commitments to Ukraine since 2022 to more than CAD $26 billion, the government stated. Canadian military support for Ukraine dates back to Operation UNIFIER, the training mission launched in 2015 and extended earlier this year to 2029.