Our Mission
The Canadian Defence Sovereignty Initiative (CDSI) is a non-profit that builds the innovation pipeline Canada currently lacks: taking ideas from Canadian researchers, veterans, and founders and turning them into sustainable, security-cleared Canadian companies capable of supplying the Canadian Armed Forces and allied militaries directly.
Sovereignty
Reduce reliance on foreign suppliers for critical defence capability and insulate Canadian security from foreign policy shifts.
Economic Growth
Build high-value, IP-rich Canadian companies with export potential across defence and dual-use commercial markets.
Canadian Jobs & Talent
Keep engineers, scientists, and veterans building in Canada instead of migrating south for opportunity.
From Idea to Fielded Capability
Founders enter through a one-day public workshop, then move through three tiers. Each tier has a defined entry bar, a defined exit bar, and a specific job to do.
Entry point
Workshop
One day, public
An introduction to defence entrepreneurship that channels qualified candidates into Discovery.
Tier 1
Discovery
6 weeks, pre-company
Validate a real DND/DRDC-aligned problem, form a founding team, and shape a venture concept.
Tier 2
Ignition
4 to 6 months, cohort
Build the company: compliance, funding navigation, and the path to a first paying customer.
Tier 3
Scale
Ongoing, post-revenue
Grow into a sustained supplier through follow-on capital, larger contracts, and export markets.
Read what each tier provides and when founders advance
A Non-Profit, Not an Investor
CDSI is a registered Canadian non-profit, not a fund, and not a fundraising pitch in disguise. We don't take equity in the companies we help build, and we never touch your IP. You keep full ownership of what you create; we simply help you get there faster.
What We Do
- Defence Innovation & Entrepreneurship Workshop: A one-day public program introducing defence entrepreneurship to innovators, researchers, veterans, and aspiring founders, designed to channel qualified candidates into our pipeline.
- WarTech Venture Pipeline: A structured, three-tier pathway spanning Discovery, Ignition, and Scale that guides a founder from an early concept to a sustained, revenue-generating defence supplier.
- Mentorship Network: Retired procurement officers, cleared engineers, defence founders, and export-control counsel embedded across every stage of the journey.
- Policy Advocacy: Advancing Canadian-content procurement rules and faster acquisition pathways for small suppliers.
Find Us
Founders, partners, and funders are welcome to get in touch before visiting.
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, K1Y 3B7
hello@wartech.ca