For decades, Canada has lived inside a strategic comfort zone. Protected by geography, buffered by alliances, and insulated by the assumption that the world’s most advanced military technologies would always be available from friendly nations, the country never felt compelled to develop its own missile propulsion capabilities. That era is ending.
The global security environment is shifting with a speed and intensity that leaves little room for complacency. Nations large and small are investing in long-range precision weapons, sovereign industrial capacity, and the ability to defend their airspace without relying on foreign suppliers.
Canada, by contrast, remains almost entirely dependent on others for even the most basic missile technologies.
This dependence is becoming untenable. The demands of NORAD modernization, the growing strategic competition in the Arctic, and the tightening of global supply chains all point toward the same conclusion: Canada must begin building its own missile propulsion ecosystem. Not in theory. Not in the distant future. But now.
The most realistic and strategically sound place to begin is propulsion. A missile’s motor is its heart, the component that determines range, speed, altitude, and mission profile. Once a nation masters propulsion, the rest of the missile becomes a matter of engineering integration rather than scientific reinvention. This is how modern missile-producing nations have built their capabilities. South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, Japan, and India all followed the same path: start with a subsonic motor, build a missile around it, then progress to supersonic propulsion. Canada can do the same, and it can do so faster than many assume.
A subsonic missile motor is well within Canada’s reach. With focused investment, the country could develop a solid rocket motor or small turbojet suitable for a 100- to 200-kilometre missile in 3 to 5 years. Once that motor exists, a deployable missile could follow in as little as 2 to 3 years. The logic is straightforward: propulsion is the pacing item. When the motor is mature, the airframe, guidance system, warhead, and launch platforms can be designed around known performance parameters. The development timeline collapses.
The next step, supersonic propulsion, is more demanding but still achievable. A Mach 1-plus motor, whether a high-pressure solid rocket or a ramjet, could be developed within five additional years. With that motor in hand, a supersonic missile could be fielded in 3 to 4 years. In total, Canada could move from zero domestic propulsion capability to a sovereign supersonic missile within roughly a decade.
This is not an aspirational fantasy. It is the same trajectory followed by countries with smaller economies and fewer technical resources than Canada.
The question, then, is not whether Canada can do this. It is whether Canada will choose to.
The industrial base already exists. Magellan Aerospace, including its Bristol Aerospace division in Winnipeg, is the country’s strongest propulsion asset. Bristol built the Black Brant sounding rockets, one of the most successful solid rocket programs in the world. Magellan has the facilities, expertise, and manufacturing capacity to lead a national solid rocket motor program. Bombardier, with its deep experience in aerospace structures and composites, could design and manufacture missile airframes and composite motor casings. MDA, a leader in space and defence technology, could support materials development, precision manufacturing, and systems integration. CMC Electronics could provide the guidance computers and navigation systems that every missile requires. L3Harris WESCAM, a global leader in electro-optical sensors, could develop terminal seekers.
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems could supply warheads and energetic materials, while General Dynamics Mission Systems could integrate ground launchers and datalinks.
This is not a hypothetical industrial ecosystem. It is a real one, already operating inside Canada’s borders. What it lacks is a unifying national mission.
Universities would play a critical role as well.
The University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) is the country’s premier centre for aerodynamics, combustion modeling, and high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics,exactly the expertise needed to design efficient grain geometries, optimize nozzles, and simulate thermal loads. Carleton University, with its strengths in gas turbines and flight dynamics, could support the adaptation of small turbojets or turbofans for missile use.
McGill University’s expertise in high-speed aerodynamics and materials science would be essential for supersonic propulsion.
Queen’s University could contribute research on composite casings, insulation materials, and nozzle erosion.
The University of Waterloo, with its capabilities in photonics, composites, and additive manufacturing, could help develop advanced nozzles and airframes.
The University of Alberta’s work in autonomy and control systems would strengthen guidance algorithms.
Together, these institutions form a national propulsion ecosystem waiting to be activated.
The strategic rationale for doing so is overwhelming. NORAD modernization is entering a decisive phase, and the United States expects Canada to contribute meaningfully to continental defence. That contribution cannot be limited to sensors and infrastructure. It must include the ability to field and sustain long-range precision weapons. The Arctic, once a frozen buffer, is becoming a theatre of strategic competition.
Russia and China are expanding their presence, and long-range missiles are now a standard tool of statecraft. Canada cannot defend its northern approaches with imported systems alone.
Industrial sovereignty is national security. Missile propulsion is not merely a military capability; it is a driver of advanced manufacturing, materials science, electronics, and aerospace engineering. Investing in propulsion is investing in Canada’s future workforce and technological independence. It is also a hedge against a world where export controls are tightening and allies are prioritizing their own stockpiles.
A propulsion-first strategy offers a clear, achievable path. In the first three to five years, Canada could develop a subsonic motor. In the following 2 to 3 years, it could field a 100- to 200-kilometre missile built around that motor.
In the next 5 years, it could develop a Mach 1-plus propulsion system. And in the three to four years after that, it could field a supersonic missile. Within a decade, Canada could possess a sovereign missile capability that enhances continental defence, strengthens its Arctic posture, and anchors a new generation of high-tech industrial growth.
This is not a time for another study, another committee, or another decade of debate. The world is moving quickly, and Canada risks being left behind. The country has the talent, the industry, the universities, and the strategic need. What it lacks is urgency.
If Canada begins today, it can build the propulsion systems that will define its defence capabilities for the next half-century. If it waits, it will remain dependent on others in a world where dependence is becoming a liability.
