National group will help Canadian and international companies pursue opportunities created by defence investment, procurement, industrial expansion and supply-chain development

Miller Thomson has launched a national Defence, Security & Aerospace Industry Group to help Canadian and international businesses pursue the commercial opportunities and manage the regulatory complexity of Canada’s expanding defence economy.

The launch comes as the federal government places Canadian industry at the centre of its Defence Industrial Strategy. Budget 2025 committed $81.8 billion to increase defence investment, including $6.6 billion for the strategy. Over the next decade, the strategy aims to grow annual revenues for Canadian defence small and medium-sized enterprises by more than $5.1 billion and increase defence exports by 50 per cent.

For Miller Thomson, one of the most significant developments is the growing breadth of Canada’s defence economy. In addition to longstanding opportunities for defence contractors, aerospace companies and their supply chains, businesses across sectors such as technology, cybersecurity, infrastructure, critical minerals, transportation and logistics are increasingly contributing products, services and capabilities that support Canada’s defence and security priorities. The Firm sees this expansion as an important business opportunity for Canadian businesses and the broader mid-market economy.

“Many Canadian businesses already have products and expertise that defence, security and critical infrastructure need, even if they have never thought of themselves as defence companies. We help our clients see where they fit and build a plan to win that work,” says Kirk Emery, Partner and Co-Leader of the Defence, Security & Aerospace Industry Group at Miller Thomson

“For businesses in or looking at entering this market, the challenge isn’t simply identifying an opportunity. They need to understand procurement, partnerships, investment, financing, national-security requirements and trade and regulatory considerations. Our objective is to bring those pieces together around the client’s business strategy,” adds Yves Rocheleau, Partner and Co-Leader of the Defence, Security & Aerospace Industry Group at Miller Thomson.

The group advises prime contractors, subcontractors, original equipment manufacturers, emerging and dual-use technology companies, investors and private equity sponsors, infrastructure developers and businesses in adjacent sectors. Its work spans procurement and public funding; national security, foreign investment and trade controls; M&A and financing; infrastructure and major projects; intellectual property and technology; cybersecurity; employment; tax; and dispute resolution. “Defence investment is creating new markets for Canadian businesses of every size,” says Jay Hoffman, Chair of the Business Law Group at Miller Thomson. “As Canada’s business law firm, we built this group to give our clients national, multidisciplinary advice as they compete in those markets.”