Read our submission in full: U15 Canada – SRSR Dual-Use Study Submission – May 2026
Summary of Recommendations
To strengthen Canada’s dual-use and defence innovation capacity, and ensure sovereign capabilities in critical technologies, U15 Canada recommends:
- Recognize research universities as foundational to sovereign capabilities. Position the capacity of Canada’s leading research universities across fundamental, dual-use, and mission-oriented research as a core pillar of Canada’s sovereign capability development and Defence Industrial Strategy. This should be reflected in federal investment priorities and policy frameworks.
- Build scalable, structured mechanisms for university engagement in dual-use research. Connect leading research universities with government and industry partners across the full research continuum. This should include mechanisms that are designed with sufficient ambition, structured to engage universities as genuine strategic partners, and resourced to operate at the scale the moment demands to advance sovereign capabilities.
- Establish trusted pathways for collaboration. Enable controlled and classified collaboration with universities, including accelerated security clearances for researchers and accredited university research environments.
Introduction
Canada’s leading research universities develop talent, drive innovation and deliver impact across the country. At a time when the rules-based international order is under profound stress, building domestic research capacity is critically important to Canada’s sovereignty and prosperity.
Innovation is foundational to modern defence. Canada’s leading research universities are uniquely positioned to drive breakthroughs in next generation, dual-use technologies like quantum, AI and arctic monitoring. This is research that supports both national security and economic prosperity.
Canada has now reached NATO’s 2% defence spending target, a milestone that signals seriousness in a more uncertain world and reinforces Canada’s credibility as a reliable partner. As Canada boosts defence spending, it will be critical to realize the unfulfilled potential of Canada’s research ecosystem. Currently, a lower share of Canada’s defence spending goes towards research than nearly all NATO members.
Leading research universities in Canada are home to expertise and advanced infrastructure in emerging technologies that will be critical to keeping Canadians safe and securing our economic and technological sovereignty. This capacity is a national asset. But unlike many of our peers, Canada has not yet built the mechanisms required to mobilize the existing capacity of our universities deliberately, at scale, in support of sovereign capability development.
Canada’s dual-use and defence research needs require a coherent system in which universities, industry, and government laboratories operate not as disconnected actors, but as an integrated engine of innovation capable of moving from discovery to deployment across the full continuum of research and technology development.
Getting this right will not only strengthen Canada’s security, it will help resolve some of Canada’s most persistent economic challenges.