Kanata defence firm wins four-day contract to integrate sensors into Canadian Armed Forces system

The Canadian Armed Forces contacted Kanata-based Dominion Dynamics in early July with an unusual request: build a brand-new product integrating the firm's sensors into an existing CAF software system and deliver it in less than a week.

Eliot Pence, founder and chief executive of Dominion Dynamics, said the team delivered. "They got us under contract, we built it in four days, we integrated it into their system, deployed it to where it needed to be deployed, it worked and then (we) got paid the next day," Pence said. "It was not easy to do in that timeframe at all."

The rapid turnaround signals a shift in how the federal government engages defence contractors. Pence spent most of the previous two decades as a venture capitalist and defence-tech executive in Washington, D.C., before launching Dominion Dynamics last year. The speed and efficiency of the CAF's response impressed him. "It disputes all of what I've been told about the country. I think the narrative is changing a little bit for me," he said.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of local entrepreneurs are watching closely as Canada pledges to meet NATO's defence-spending benchmark of five per cent of GDP by 2035. The federal government has launched several initiatives aimed at boosting the Canadian defence-tech ecosystem. The $6.6-billion Defence Industrial Strategy is designed to increase the share of military spending awarded to Canadian-owned and headquartered companies from its current level of about 43 per cent to 70 per cent over the next few years.

Ottawa tabled Bill C-31 on May 6, 2026, creating a stand-alone Defence Investment Agency with up to 14 exceptions to competitive procurement. The Liberals are expected to introduce additional legislation this fall to give the newly created Defence Investment Agency broad powers to bypass the procurement process, which has long been criticized for being too slow.

Mike Nelson, who leads fledgling defence-tech enterprise Tactiql, shares the optimism. Tactiql's 20-person startup specializes in software that converts data from sensors and military equipment into formats compatible with a range of applications used by field and office personnel. "They have done a lot," Pence said of the federal government's procurement reforms. "Institutionally, they've changed a fair bit. They've spent money, and they've budgeted and appropriated money. I think now the question is how much of that is going to go to Canadian companies."