New Brunswick is positioning itself to capture a larger share of Canada’s expanding defense sector through a newly unveiled provincial framework. Provincial leaders announced the initiative on Monday at CFB Gagetown, establishing a roadmap to capitalize on federal investments aimed at modernizing the country’s armed forces.
Premier Susan Holt released the strategy, titled Defence Ready: New Brunswick’s Defence Growth Framework, outlining goals that intertwine military sector expansion with broader economic targets. Among the central objectives is growing the provincial economy by 10 percent by 2030, alongside specific financial goals for the defense industry.
“There are two targets attached to this strategy: one is growing our GDP from the sector, you heard the minister mention it’s $762 million today. We want to get that up to a billion dollars,” Holt told reporters.
Proponents of the strategy point to the province’s existing structural advantages. According to the accompanying report, New Brunswick boasts the second-highest military employment per capita in Canada, alongside CFB Gagetown, which serves as the largest military training facility in Eastern Canada.
The newly detailed framework is built upon four foundational pillars: industry and investment, technology and innovation, infrastructure and resources, and base and community growth. Provincial officials emphasize that these pillars target areas where the region already demonstrates established expertise.
“We know what we do really well: land systems, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity. We know that we have assets like our minerals and our ports that are critical,” Holt said.
Strengthening and supporting the operations of CFB Gagetown, located in Oromocto, remains a primary focus of the long-term plan. To accommodate anticipated personnel increases, the provincial government announced an investment in September directed toward wastewater treatment infrastructure in Oromocto. Officials project that combined growth among civilians and base members will exceed 2,000 individuals.
To ensure the framework translates into actionable economic gains, Economic Development Minister Luke Randall noted that the province will maintain its collaboration with an established task force. This group is tasked with identifying emerging market opportunities and integrating local companies into the wider national defense framework.
“Bring together stakeholders to help identify opportunities, but also to help plug companies in to the larger defence framework,” Randall said.
