# Canada Converts DIA Into Crown Corporation

Canada introduced Bill C-40 on October 6, 2026, to convert the Defence Investment Agency (DIA) into the Canadian Corporation for Defence Investment, an arm’s-length Crown corporation with expanded authority to negotiate and manage defence contracts and investments. The proposed legislation would permit up to **C$1 billion** in specified funding with ministerial approval and allow non-competitive procurement in defined circumstances; it is not yet enacted, and the signals identify no new solicitation. For suppliers, the change could centralize defence procurement and create new routes to financing and contracting, while making the bill’s final governance, approval, competition, and transparency rules important to future bids.

- The proposal sits within a reported **$180 billion planned defence procurement portfolio** and includes priorities such as domestic industrial capacity and interoperability. Canadian and allied suppliers should assess how those priorities align with their offerings as the legislation progresses.
- Bill C-40 provides for competitive procurements subject to specified exceptions. Contractors should review the enacted provisions and subsequent implementation details before making assumptions about when or how non-competitive pathways may apply.
- The proposed financial tools could include loans and advance payments, but one signal reports a current **$100 million contract floor** that may limit smaller suppliers’ direct access. Smaller firms may want to assess potential teaming or supply-chain roles as the agency’s model takes shape.
- Canada’s planned purchase of 12 submarines, with TKMS identified as preferred supplier and the contract not finalized, is a major example of the broader procurement environment—not a solicitation created by Bill C-40.

**Jurisdictions:** international
**Industries:** Defense & Military
**Topics:** Policy, Contracting Vehicles
**Published:** October 09, 2026

### Government Entities
- Defence Investment Agency (DIA)
- Canadian Corporation for Defence Investment
- Government of Canada
- Department of National Defence (DND)
- Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)

### Vendors
- TKMS (Preferred supplier for the planned submarine purchase; contract not finalized)

### Key Quotes
> Defence procurement involves complex contracts and negotiations with some of the world's largest companies. The agency needs the talent, authorities, commercial expertise to negotiate confidently make timely decisions and to manage those relationships over decades.
> — Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State for Defence Procurement

> Procurement and investment must live together, by connecting the capabilities our armed forces need with the investments that will deliver them and the industrial capacity that will sustain them.
> — Joël Lightbound, Procurement Minister

> The ability to follow the money of what’s being done by DIA, on behalf of which ministers, in which fiscal years, and with which results, will be some of these new problems that we’ll have to find new solutions for.
> — Annette Ryan, Parliamentary Budget Officer

### Sources
- [Defence (sped up) - iPolitics](https://www.ipolitics.ca/2026/10/06/defence-investment-agency-evening-brief-ipolitics) - iPolitics
- [Defence procurement agency to move faster as Crown corporation, agency head says  - The Globe and Mail](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-defence-procurement-agency-to-move-faster-as-crown-corporation-agency) - The Globe and Mail
- [Canada moves to speed defence procurement through DIA legislation](https://tradersunion.com/news/financial-news/show/3684998-canada-defence-procurement-dia-legislation) - Traders Union