BDC boosts Defence Platform up to $6B after providing $92M in financing since late December, names StrongNorth Fund leader

MONTREAL, March 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) today announced a major expansion of its Defence Platform up to $6 billion, building on strong early demand to support Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seizing opportunities in the defence sector."Canada's economic and national sovereignty interests are converging at an incredible pace. BDC wants to strengthen the defence ecosystem with a clear, two-layer approach—direct financial solutions for businesses, as announced in December, and indirect solutions that offer more targeted support for the broader ecosystem that enables those entrepreneurs. That's the focus of BDC's second layer that we will be developing in the coming months," said Peter Dawe, Vice-President, Defence Strategy, who leads BDC's Defence Platform. This second layer of support aims to connect Canadian SMEs and startups with priority defence and sovereignty needs in Canada and allied countries, focusing on targeted initiatives and partnerships. This includes working with incubators, accelerators, universities, and other organizations that support defence-focused businesses, connecting them with mission owners, buyers and key ecosystem stakeholders, and helping companies test and scale their technologies.Early results and new partnershipsAs part of an update on the rollout of its Defence Platform, BDC reported that, since its launch in December, $91.7 million in financing has already been provided to 16 businesses. BDC also reported 16 businesses have engaged its advisory services for defence-related opportunities."We're seeing a strong, high-quality pipeline of ...Full story available on Benzinga.com