Canada’s universities: Safeguarding our democracy and sovereignty

In an era of geopolitical uncertainty and rapid technological change, Canada must invest in its security, sovereignty and prosperity. The government’s focus on defence, sovereignty and innovation reflects the scale of the challenge the nation is facing. To succeed, Canada must expand its domestic capacity.

Canada’s universities are a core part of this capacity, while also driving the talent and discoveries that support long-term economic growth. In 2025, the higher education sector performed $19 billion in research and development, accounting for 33 percent of Canada’s total gross domestic expenditures on R&D. This is not a marginal contribution. Canada relies more heavily on its post-secondary sector for research and innovation than any other G7 country. At a time when Canada’s business sector continues to underperform on innovation, universities are carrying a disproportionate share of the country’s research capacity. Sustaining that capacity is therefore not only a sector issue; it is central to Canada’s ability to compete in a knowledge-based global economy.

For decades, Canada’s universities have collaborated with government, industry and communities to create new talent pipelines and develop and deploy new technologies that uphold our sovereignty. Today, they offer the country’s most scalable platform for rapidly expanding defence talent, innovation and sovereign capability without building new systems from scratch. Deepening these collaborations and alliances will ensure Canada is developing the dual-use technologies that both serve our security and economic needs.

Universities Canada recommendations:

1. Develop standardized commercialization pathways and incentives for dual-use technologies that can be declassified for the broader benefit of Canadians.
2. Leverage university land, infrastructure and research security capabilities to support the creation of secure research facilities co-located with industry, enabling scale across the full ecosystem.
3. Mobilize secure, scalable, unclassified research environments for dual-use innovation to realize the full ambitions of the Defence Industrial Strategy.
4. Integrate university-led programs into the Defence Industrial Strategy and related workforce initiatives to ensure a sustained pipeline of talent aligned with defence and sovereignty priorities.

In a rapidly changing global landscape, universities are ready to partner with government to build on this success, strengthening research security, improving IP sharing and developing the technologies that address labour shortages in key sectors, including defence.

Deeper integration of the university research ecosystem into federal priorities will enable Canada to generate talent, accelerate innovation and build sovereign capability at scale, while driving economic growth, strengthening defence capacity and positioning Canada among the fastest-growing economies in the G7.