About us
The Icebreaker is Canada's defence innovation network, trusted by founders and funders, operators and professionals at DND and the CAF, defence primes, IDEaS, NATO DIANA, and everywhere decisions are made to defend the nation.
Our mission: to make Canada a net exporter of defence technology, by 2030.
How we work:
0600 SITREP: Canada’s first defence tech newsletter. Sign up for our twice-weekly morning brief, to cut through the noise and stay in the know
Talent development: In partnership with Build Canada and NordSpace, we are hosting Canada’s first defence tech hackathon in Fall 2025. Our goal is to jumpstart a world-class ecosystem that builds Canadian sovereign capability, by injecting urgency into defence innovation at a grassroots level
Defence Capability Mapping: The Government of Canada has asked the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) to build a market map of Canadian companies that can help serve Canada’s defence needs. The Icebreaker is pleased to formally partner with CCI to help build this database of Canada’s strategic defence capabilities
Defence Power 50: Canada’s inaugural Defence Power 50 List, determined by industry-leading selection co-chairs, will be the industry benchmark, and share the stories of the most influential leaders and up-and-comers in the defence community who are building the future
Networking and events: Join one of our curated defence tech community meetups, hosted periodically across Canada, to catch up in-person with VCs, founders, operators, defence primes, and the defence-curious
The Icebreaker in the news
Canadian tech industry gears up for big boost in defence spending (The Globe & Mail, June 2025)
Partner with us
The Icebreaker makes executive thought leadership features available in the 0600 SITREP, and in support of our other activities, for a limited number of select partners.
Contact us at readtheicebreaker@substack.com for details.
