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, and most widely-read, defence tech newsletter. Sign up for our weekly morning brief, to cut through the noise and stay in the know
Investor network: In partnership with ONE9, we have founded and co-chair the Canadian Defence Investor Network (CANDIN) — Canada’s first and only private capital network focused on defence and security
Talent development: In partnership with NordSpace, SkyWatch, DMZ Toronto and Build Canada, we launched Canada’s first defence tech hackathon in Fall 2025
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 build this database of Canada’s strategic dual-use capabilities
Transatlantic Defence Innovation Partnership: The European Defense Tech Hub (EDTH) and The Icebreaker have joined forces to accelerate defence innovation, uniting Europe's leading defence innovation network with Canada's foremost defence tech community. Together, we are creating direct pipelines for startups to access operational trials, investor capital, and procurement across the Atlantic
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 events and community meetups, hosted periodically across Canada, to catch up in-person with VCs, founders, operators, defence primes, and the defence-curious; we’ve also sponsored and moderated lively panels at the Tech for Defence Summit, co-hosted by Invest Ottawa and Communitech, and hosted events jointly with York University
In the news
Canada, companies need to go beyond buzzwords to innovate dual-use defence tech, panel says (The Globe & Mail, October 2025)
Why Canada’s defence tech sector is suddenly exploding (The BetaKit Podcast, September 2025)
Defence hackathon brings whizzes from across Canada together to solve Arctic surveillance (The Globe & Mail, September 2025)
Hundreds of Canadian companies making ‘dual use’ products useful for defence, survey finds (The Globe & Mail, August 2025)
Building Canada’s defence tech ecosystem (The Hard Part Podcast, August 2025)
Business Brief: Companies gear up for military spending (The Globe & Mail, July 2025)
Canadian tech industry gears up for big boost in defence spending (The Globe & Mail, June 2025)
Advertise with us
The Icebreaker makes advertising 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.
