‘I think that this is not a 12-month strategy. I think this is a five to 15-year strategy,’ Nuttall says following today’s announcement
Parts for military drones, vehicles and armor on wheels to firearms, body armor and widgets could be part of defense industry manufacturing in Barrie, Mayor Alex Nuttall said Thursday.
“There’s a whole array of different products that we could potentially bring to the city of Barrie for production,” he said. “It’s everything from the vehicles themselves to the pieces of those vehicles or firearms or protective gear.”
Nuttall spoke after the Canadian Association for Defence and Securities annual conference in Ottawa, Canada’s leading defence, security and emerging technology event, which brings together companies from Canada and around the world to showcase the latest technology and services for military use.
The Ontario government has unveiled its framework for the Ontario Defence Industrial Strategy (ODIS), a 10-year strategy dedicated to growing the province’s defence industry and positioning its companies and workers for long-term success.
The framework highlights Ontario’s strengths and competitive advantages in research and development, critical minerals, nuclear energy, aeronautics, manufacturing and technology, as well as the province’s world-class workforce.
Nuttall wants Barrie to become a hub for defence industry manufacturing.
“We’ve been working on this for the last year,” he said. “It takes a long time to get alignment between the business sector, private industry, the federal and provincial governments, and then we fall in behind that.
“It’s taken a long time to get where we are, especially when you consider the defence industry and the security around that,” Nuttall added.
The Barrie mayor says a number of factors will determine when defence industry manufacturing will take place in this city.
“Where there is alignment means it could be months or perhaps let’s say in the next year,” he said. “Then in the long-term I think is that because of this change in our boundary (annexation of land from Springwater and Oro-Medonte townships last Jan. 1), that has created a whole bunch of opportunities for production and manufacturing to take place inside the city of Barrie now.
“I think that this is not a 12-month strategy. I think this is a five to 15-year strategy,” Nuttall added.
He highlighted Barrie’s relationship with Canadian Forces Base Borden, along with its close highway, rail and airport services, as some of the reasons for defence industry manufacturing to locate in Barrie.
“Two things which put Barrie at the front of line when it comes to where should these investments take place -the fact that we have housing; we have land that’s ready; we have serviced land that’s ready,” Nuttall said.
The city is also investing in technical skills – trades, engineering and mechatronics; computer science; applied research; and workforce partnerships to support long-term growth in both the defence and advanced manufacturing sectors.
This includes a new $2.5-million investment in Georgian College during the next two years to strengthen defence-focused education as a military-connected college, and up to $20 million to support Lakehead University’s expansion in Barrie.
Together these investments are building the talent pipeline needed to power defence and advance manufacturing growth according to city officials.
Cities officials say Barrie is taking action to build a workforce that’s skilled adaptable aligned with defence industry needs.
As Canada and its allied partners prepare to make generational investments into national security projects these strengths position Ontario to drive industrial development create good-paying jobs reinforce the province’s role as a trusted partner in domestic allied defense supply chains
“As Canada our allies respond increasing global uncertainty by making record investments defense security Ontario has world-class workers manufacturers critical resources help protect ourselves allies” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said release
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“Our provincial defense strategy will position Ontario take advantage record investments contributing global security supporting Ontario companies bringing tens thousands good-paying defense jobs province” he added
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