Liberals roll out Defence Investment Agency to speed up military purchasing

Ottawa is launching a new federal procurement agency designed to overhaul and centralize how the military buys its equipment.

Secretary of State for Defence Procurement Stephen Fuhr, who will oversee the new Defence Investment Agency, says it will deliver equipment to the Canadian Armed Forces at a faster pace that will better meet its needs.

The Liberal government is tapping former Royal Bank of Canada executive Doug Guzman to manage the new agency, which will be housed within Public Services and Procurement Canada.

Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigned on the promise to reform defence procurement during the spring election by streamlining the system for making military purchases to cut down on lengthy delays.

The Liberals had committed to standing up a new defence procurement agency in 2019, but abandoned those plans as a priority when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Canada has committed to its NATO allies that it will spend the equivalent of two per cent of its GDP on national defence every year — spending levels not seen since the Cold War.