Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is boosting its funding for European Space Agency programs by $528.5 million as Ottawa seeks to build stronger ties with Europe.
The new funding represents a tenfold increase compared to Canada’s previous contributions to the European Space Agency (ESA), and will be allocated over a three to five year period, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) said in a Nov. 18 news release.
The agency said the funding aims to advance research and development of Canadian-made space technologies for civilian and defence purposes. These technologies include satellite communications, Earth observation, space exploration, positioning, navigation and timing, and space situational awareness.
Canada currently participates in several programs of the European Space Agency, including the European Earth Watch Program, the European Exploration Envelop Program, and the Space Safety Programme, among others.
Joly said at a Nov. 18 space industry conference in Ottawa that the new funding also aims to create more jobs for Canadians and increase exports to the European market, while diversifying partnerships.
She said Canada can focus on what it can “control” amid tensions in the Canada-U.S. trade relationships, such as diversifying its trade partners and “being closer to Europe.” She noted Canada has been the only non-European country partnered in the European Space Agency since 1979.
“Of course we’ll continue to trade with the U.S. They’re an important trade partner and we’ll continue to preserve that relationship, but we can’t be naive and we need to make sure that we [are] able to look at other partners, which is just the intelligent thing to do,” Joly said at the conference.
Joly also said an increased focus on the space industry is necessary as there have been “more tensions in space,” such as geopolitical turbulence, with “China investing a lot in space.”
Ottawa’s move to boost ESA program funding comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has emphasized diversifying its trade partnerships, aiming to double non-U.S. exports in the next 10 years, and strengthen defence ties with Europe.
Ottawa is also significantly increasing defence spending, pledging more than $81 billion over five years to the Canadian Armed Forces in Budget 2025, as Canada works toward meeting NATO’s defence spending target of 2 percent of GDP by the end of this fiscal year, and 5 percent of GDP by 2035.
Joly said that defence not only includes the protection of land, sea, and air, but also includes space.
The boosted ESA funding also builds on the Liberal government’s new Defence Industrial Strategy, Joly said. The Carney government’s budget, which passed in the House of Commons on Nov. 17, also earmarks $6.6 billion over five years for the Defence Industrial Strategy.
The budget says the strategy is set to be unveiled “in the coming months” and would “improve access to capital, drive research and innovation, bolster domestic supply chains, and grow critical resource stockpiles.”
Joly said the idea is to build defence technology, like satellites, space technology, planes, drones, and artificial intelligence in Canada to build a stronger “military industrial complex.” When Canada is not able to build at home, it can partner with other countries, but still carry out the maintenance and repair in Canada, she noted, adding that if Canada will buy technologies from other countries as a last resort.
“I can’t stress how [important] it is… for us to be able to develop our own capacities and to be able also to diversify our markets because it’s the only way that we’ll be able to get through the economic turbulence that we may be experiencing because of the trade tensions,” Joly said.
The CSA says Canada’s total funding for specific ESA programs will be decided during the European Space Agency’s Ministerial Council in Germany from Nov. 26 to 27.
The Epoch Times contacted the CSA for further details on the new funding allocation but did not immediately hear back.
Reuters contributed to this report.
