Finland has ‘a huge interest’ in working with Canada on defence procurement projects: defence secretary

Canada’s push for strategic partnerships with European allies while it reduces reliance on the United States is reaping results, as Finland says Nordic countries are “strongly inclined to work with Canada” on defence procurement.

Janne Kuusela, the permanent secretary at Finland's Ministry of Defence, was in Ottawa for a visit to strengthen the strategic defence and security partnership between the two countries.

Kuusela—whose rank equals a deputy minister in Canada—told The Hill Times in a June 26 interview that he has been examining where common interests lie, and where Canada and Finland's defence industries can collaborate. 

“There's a huge interest in Finland to work with Canada on the defence industry. We will see where it takes our countries in the future. There are promising possibilities, but the defining factor will be what makes sense for Canada and [the country’s] defence system to do together with Europeans,” Kuusela said.

“It's very much in the beginning at this moment, but all the Nordic countries are strongly inclined to work with Canada for obvious reasons. Canada is an important partner for us,” he said, adding that this country is seen as a “really positive power” in the Baltics as well as in Latvia, and has a really big role to play for the safety of the region.

When asked what specific defence procurement projects he sees the two countries collaborating on in the next few years, Kuusela pointed to areas like cutting-edge technologies, connectivity, satellites, and armoured vehicles for Arctic mobility where he noted the Finns have expertise.

As for what Finland would likely buy from Canada, Kuusela said his country is “exploring what Canada has to offer. We don't have anything major underway now, but we [keep] an open mind exploring what Canada has to offer, and there is a fair amount of really, really good know-how production in your country.” He added that Finland’s current focus in terms of defence spending is on modernizing the country’s land forces. 

Canadian and Finnish companies are already “finding each other” to team up as the two governments are expanding investments in the defence arena, Kuusela said. He pointed to the collaboration between Finnish company Patria, which develops future-generation Arctic vehicles, and Soucy Defence, a Canadian company located in Drummondville, Que., which makes rubber composite tracks for those vehicles.

“I see this as a very promising outlook, and it's early days to see how these things go,” the secretary said.

Kuusela’s visit was just the latest amid Canada’s diplomatic efforts to strengthen ties between Nordic countries.

Canada and five Nordic ‌countries—Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland—have been working to deepen co-operation in military procurement and other areas.

Prime Minister Mark Carney (Nepean, Ont.) attended the Canada-Nordic Summit in March where he met with leaders of Nordic countries as part of joint efforts to strengthen transatlantic security in the North, and deepen partnership in areas like trade, technology, energy, and defence and security. 

Carney told reporters during that trip the countries are aiming to work more closely together on defence procurement.

"We all agree that if we individually spend that money or we spend it in an unco-ordinated way, it's not going to be [of] value for taxpayers. ​It also will not protect ​our people as much ⁠as we should," he said.

"We will still do a lot of procurement with the United States ... but in all cases looking to procure much more in partnership.”

Agreements, pacts already in the works

Canada and Finland further strengthened bilateral ties this past April through agreements and initiatives focused on Arctic security. In April, the two countries launched negotiations on a General Security of Information Agreement that aims to strengthen information-sharing, deepen defence co-operation, and open opportunities for our industries during Carney’s meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb in Ottawa.

They also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to strengthen co-operation in maritime capabilities and industrial partnerships, which includes the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE) Pact between Canada, the U.S., and Finland. With the ICE Pact, the trio agreed to move from the planning phase to delivery by deepening co-operation with industry to expand production capacity and secure participation for companies across all three countries, and facilitate co-operation across the value chain to reduce bottlenecks and improve delivery timelines.

Another MOU between Export Development Canada and Finnish Nokia was signed to support Nokia’s efforts to build artificial intelligence gigafactories in Canada, and collaboration between the two countries on quantum research and innovation as well as resource development, including critical minerals, to support the global energy transition. The two countries also agreed to deepen collaboration in AI and high-performance computing, as well as other digital technologies.

The Arctic and the North are home to 150,000 Canadians. Canada and Finland work together in defence and security areas as part of more than a dozen alliances including the European Union, Arctic Council, NATO, and the Arctic Seven. 

Under its National Shipbuilding Strategy, Canada is constructing two new Polar Max icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard through a joint project with Finland. Construction of an icebreaker's hulls began in August 2025 at Helsinki Shipyard in Finland—owned by Canadian company Chantier Davie. The assembly of the vessel will take place at Davie’s shipyard in Lévis, Que. 

The Parliamentary Budget Office estimates the total cost of the Polar Icebreaker Project to be $8.5-billion. The construction of two vessels is estimated to contribute approximately $420-million annually to Canada’s gross domestic product, according to the federal government.

Canada’s process of joining the European Union's defence procurement program Security Action for Europe (SAFE) that provides member countries loans up to $235-billion was finalized on June 15. The program is designed to help member countries invest in areas like missile defence, drones, and cybersecurity, and for their industries to operate on the same level as EU manufacturers. Canada—which started the process back in February in the midst of trade tensions with the U.S.—is the first non-EU country to join SAFE.

Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy allocates $180-billion for defence procurement opportunities and $290-billion in defence-related capital investment opportunities over the next 10 years. All of this follows Canada’s NATO pledge to invest five per cent of its annual GDP by 2035, with four per cent projected to be spent by the end of this decade, which amounts to an additional $80-billion of spending.

ikoca@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times