BOSTON ¨C When World War II began in 1939, Canada had almost no meaningful military industry. Six years later, Canadian factories had produced thousands of aircraft, hundreds of naval vessels and more than 800,000 military vehicles. A country of just 11 million people had become a military-industrial powerhouse.
Heavy government investment was vital to this transformation. But that spending would have meant little if Canada had not also built institutions, financing mechanisms and physical structures capable of rapidly transforming political commitments into large-scale industrial output. As NATO¡¯s leaders gather in Ankara for their 2026 summit on July 7-8, they should be taking this lesson to heart.
Across Europe and North America, governments are ramping up their defense spending. They are announcing new equipment plans, procurement programs and spending targets, including commitments to spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense by 2035. Establishing defense as a strategic priority, increasing spending and improving procurement systems are all steps in the right direction. But converting resources into military capabilities will require the development of industrial capacity.
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