New Brunswick sets out plan to grow its defence sector

Premier Susan Holt has released a strategy to expand New Brunswick's defence industry, aiming to raise defence-related economic activity from $762 million last year to $1 billion annually by 2030, about 31 per cent more. The plan includes a new defence task force and comes as Ottawa spends roughly $1 billion on ranges, training areas and air-defence infrastructure at Base Gagetown. About 14,000 New Brunswickers work in the sector, the second-highest rate per capita in Canada. Holt said she wants the province to become first. Federal defence spending reached about $63 billion in 2025-26, meeting NATO's two per cent target.