Indigenous Business Defence Sector Accelerator Program

About the Program

Indigenous businesses will be paired with organizational sponsors through the program to learn about regulatory requirements, acquire knowledge and skills to work within the industry and leverage opportunities within their sponsors’ global supply chain.

Inaugural Program Sponsor

General Dynamics is a global defence and aerospace company with a worldwide reputation for excellence. In Canada, their operations focus on the production of combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions, and IT and C4ISR solutions for the Canadian Armed Forces and allied forces worldwide.

As the inaugural sponsors for the program, General Dynamics’ three business units in Canada Land Systems–Canada, Mission Systems–Canada, and Ordnance and Tactical Systems–Canada are proud to support Indigenous businesses across the country.

Who Should Apply?

This program is available to any Indigenous Business that:

Meets the criteria of being 51% Indigenous owned and controlled;
Has established products and/or service relevant to the defence sector.

Application

Applications opened on June 6, 2023 and closed on July 5, 2023

Frequently Asked Questions

Timeline

Application window opened: June 6, 2023
Application window closes: July 5, 2023
CCAB application review: July 6 – 7, 2023
Sponsor review and decision making: July 7- August 6, 2023
Candidate selection announcement: August 14- 18, 2023
Program kick off: September 6, 2023

Notification

All applicants will be notified when the six businesses to proceed with the accelerator program are selected.

Timeline for Program

*Subject to change at sponsors’ discretion

Meeting	Location	Date/Timing	Duration	Agenda/Meeting Responsibilities
Kick-off Session	In person or virtual	Within 30 days of selection	1-2 Hours	Review parties’ program responsibilities, set mutually agreed goals and objectives, set actions for next 45 days
Working Meeting #1	Virtual	45 days following Kick-off	30 minutes – 1 hour	Status of actions achieved, plans for next 45 days
Working Meeting #2	Virtual	45 days following Meeting #1	30 minutes – 1 hour	Status of actions achieved, plans for next 45 days
Status Meeting	In person @ Sponsor	30 days following Meeting #2	1 – 2 hours	Formal status of achievement to Goals & Objectives
Working Meeting #3	Virtual	45 days following Status meeting	30 minutes – 1 hour	Status of actions achieved, plans for next 45 days
Closeout Meeting	In person @ Candidate site	45 days following Meeting #3	1/2 day	Formal meeting – final presentation by both parties, and facility tour

Does this program apply to services or just the manufacturing sector?

The defence sector includes all kinds of work scope from manufacturing, software development to publications and manual writing. It will be the sponsors’ decision as to who they induct into the accelerator program.

Remuneration

Each inducted company will receive a one-year membership to Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI)