Durham College helping business prepare for Canada’s defence spending boom

With Canada making a generational investment in defence spending, there are substantial new opportunities for businesses and Durham College (DC) is well-positioned to support their success. 

Members of DC recently attended an Invest Durham event — Building Durham Region’s Defence Industrial Base — which brought together the private sector, government and post-secondary institutions.  

The event’s keynote speaker was Bernie Derible, Ontario’s first Military and Defence Representative — a role created by the government to promote the province’s defence industry in global markets, attract new defence investment to the province and help Ontario companies take advantage of growing export opportunities.  

“Focusing on defence requires collaboration across sectors, and Durham College has an important role to play in supporting the skilled workforce, learning, and innovation needed to help our region respond to these emerging needs,” said Dr. Elaine Popp, DC President. “Through our academic programs, research and development, compliance expertise, corporate training and innovation initiatives, we are helping develop the talent, skills and business capacity needed to leverage this opportunity while advancing Durham Region’s role as a strong contributor to provincial and federal priorities.” 

Debbie McKee Demczyk, Associate Vice President, Innovation and Research at DC, explains that the college is part of an innovation ecosystem ready to support small and medium businesses looking to expand into the defence sector.  

“Durham College has great strengths in research and development, and we’ve been offering R&D services to small and medium enterprises (SME) for the last 15 years,” she said. “We currently have three mature research centers across the AI Hub, the Mixed Reality Capture Studio, and the Centre for Cybersecurity Innovation, who all possess expertise in their particular fields to support companies to innovate and to address problems.” 

As well, DC’s Corporate Training Services is ready to work with businesses to upskill and reskill their workforce, helping to keep companies competitive and ahead of industry demands. 

A panel discussion at the Invest Durham event on building defence-ready capacity featured Sushant Katare, Senior Cybersecurity Manager at DC’s Centre for Cybersecurity Innovation, and Doug Hart, Business Manager and Strategist for DC Corporate Training Services. It was moderated by DC’s Robin Young, Executive Director, Business and Workforce Development. 

“Working collaboratively to advance the defence sector in Durham Region is how we will rapidly increase capacity,” said Sandra Austin, Commissioner, Community Growth and Economic Development – Invest Durham. “Post-secondary institutions like Durham College are critical to this, as research and innovation, workforce development, and specific expertise such as cybersecurity each play a role in advancing our regional economy. Durham College will play a key role in how we secure Durham Region’s meaningful participation in this provincial and national priority.”  

In his keynote address, Derible emphasized the importance of what has been called a generational moment. 

“What we’re going through right now is a gigantic nation-building, growth-mindset exercise,” he said, adding that he believes Prime Minister Mark Carney has under-estimated the 125,000 new jobs that will be created and Ontario stands to gain 50,000 jobs alone. 

He also described the development of the defence sector as a sovereignty issue in Canada, a point that McKee Demczyk describes as vitally important given global shifts. 

“Protecting what we have, protecting our infrastructure and our intellectual property from foreign interference, those needs have never been stronger than they are right now,” she said. “Those are conversations that Durham College is actively involved in, and we want to make sure that we not only protect ourselves, but we help our small and medium enterprises and companies in this space so they know how to protect themselves as well.” 

She adds that DC is ready to provide top-notch professional services for businesses entering the defence sector. 

“We work with the pace of the industry,” she said. “Our delivery times are very much aligned with industry requirements, and we have certified professionals to work with you to identify your business needs and deliver solutions.” 

Learn more about Research, Innovation and Training Services (RITS) at Durham College.