The Defence Investment Agency would use its proposed $1-billion investment power to keep distressed Canadian defence firms out of foreign hands and to give taxpayers a share of the upside on risky bets, its top procurement official said.

Vincent Robitaille, the DIA’s assistant deputy minister of procurement, gave the clearest account yet of how the agency would use the equity, loan and other financial tools in Bill C-40, which would make the DIA a Crown corporation. He spoke at the Deep Blue Conference Oct. 27.

The legislation would give the agency access to up to $1 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Asked why a procurement body should invest in companies at all, Robitaille described two scenarios.

In the first, a Canadian company that holds critical intellectual property runs into financial trouble.

“We would not necessarily want to allow another country to buy it on favourable terms,” he said, and the investment power would let Ottawa move quickly to keep that IP in Canada.

In the second, Canada takes on a large share of a company’s risk through advance payments or similar support.

“Taxpayers should be able to share in the benefits if it’s successful,” Robitaille said.

The point is to support industry and also earn a return for the risk the government carries.

Robitaille also gave an update on the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project.

He said negotiations with Germany, Norway and TKMS, the preferred supplier, have moved on to specific commercial, industrial, technical and contractual issues. Those include security arrangements, information sharing, governance and the infrastructure needed to maintain the future fleet.

Ottawa still expects to reach an agreement by the end of 2027, “and hopefully earlier,” he said. He added that the project has hit every deadline it set for itself, which he called almost unprecedented for the largest procurement in government.

In its first year, the agency has taken on about 40 procurements worth more than $100 million each. Robitaille said the main lesson is that delays come from process.

The DIA has simplified its internal decision-making and brought procurement into requirements discussions with National Defence earlier. It has also started engaging industry before requirements are locked in, and it is challenging reviews and approvals that add time without improving decisions.

“Deadlines are not suggestions,” he said. He cited Saab’s airborne early warning and control aircraft as one result: it is now expected about five years ahead of the original plan.

Companies hoping for a detailed playbook will have to wait. Robitaille said the agency won’t lay out its new procurement process before Bill C-40 completes the parliamentary process.

After that, he said, the DIA plans to publish clearer guidance for industry and build a stronger online presence. He gave no date for an update on the Defence Advisory Forum, saying only that one would come “soon.”