Canada is hosting negotiations among representatives from 18 countries seeking to launch the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), a new multilateral financial institution that will unite these international partners to deploy private capital and support collective security.
“Canada is stepping up with like-minded partners to establish the Defence, Security, and Resilience Bank—an ambitious initiative that will mobilize capital at scale, accelerate defence production, and strengthen collective security,” said Anita Anand, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, in a news release.
Apart from Anand, two other federal ministers – François-Philippe Champagne, finance and national revenue minister, and David McGuinty, national defence minister – welcomed Canada’s hosting role. Isabelle Hudon, president and chief executive officer of the Business Development Bank of Canada, serves as the country’s lead negotiator.
“This leadership, combined with Canada’s robust financial sector and growing defence industrial base, is driving growing interest in establishing the Bank’s headquarters in Canada,” stated the news release.
The DSRB will:
- Offer long-term and low-cost financing for defence, security, and resilience initiatives across supply chains
- Extend benefits for member governments and defence firms, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises
- Help member nations ramp up defence investments
The news release noted that the new institution aims to help tackle critical financing gaps and boost defence and security collaboration among allies and partners.
“Canada is committed to advancing the DSRB and by extension strengthening partners’ resilience in a shifting geopolitical landscape,” Champagne said.
Timeline
On Feb. 2, at a defence financing roundtable with Canadian financial institutions, Champagne and McGuinty shared that the federal government would publicly support the DSRB initiative.
On Feb. 17, Prime Minister Mark Carney launched Canada’s defence industrial strategy, which explains how the country will help its defence industry provide technological and operational advantage to the Canadian Armed Forces by:
- revitalizing its relationship with industry
- updating procurement via the new “Build-Partner-Buy” framework
- investing in Canadian innovation and commercialization
- securing supply chains
- collaborating with domestic and international partners
“The Defence, Security and Resilience Bank will work hand in hand with Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy, by supporting a more robust, responsive, and resilient defence industry at home, and close collaboration with our partners,” McGuinty said in the news release.
These coming months, Canada and its international partners will collaborate closely to move the DSRB initiative forward by establishing a charter to define the institution’s governance and operations. The first round of negotiations, held in person in Montreal, will run from Mar. 23–26.
“Through these discussions, we are cementing the building blocks of a new institution that will bolster the capacity of partners’ defence industrial bases,” Champagne said.
The news release noted that Canada is on track to reach the two percent of gross domestic product (GDP) spending target of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) this fiscal year, as well as NATO’s defence investment pledge to devote five percent of GDP to defence by 2035.