Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly takes part in a press conference in Ottawa, on July 11, 2025. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said she is working with Defence Minister David McGuinty on a new defence industrial strategy that would allow Canada to meet the new NATO target of 3.5 percent of GDP on core defence spending.
Joly said during an Aug. 20 press conference that as Canada is the world’s ninth-largest economy, Ottawa will be making “an enormous amount of investment in our Canadian Armed Forces” to meet the defence alliance’s GDP target.
