Cleantech protects our planet—but it can also protect Canada.

Political instability, national defence, and climate resilience are inextricably linked, defining the new landscape of security challenges for Canada. The government’s commitment of $81.8 billion over five years to rebuild, rearm, and reinvent the Canadian Armed Forces will require an innovative, streamlined approach to procurement and modernization.

This strategy centres on “dual-use” innovation. By efficiently adapting existing, proven Canadian environmental technologies for national security functions, we can bypass lengthy development cycles, ensuring rapid deployment and cost-effective, made-in-Canada solutions.

Dual-Use, Dual-Impact

Cleantech is not a vertical market segment. Rather, it's a horizontal segment that cuts across all verticals, including defence. Dual-use technologies serve not only civilian, commercial, and environmental goals but also military requirements. The very same innovations designed to decarbonize Canadian industry or power remote communities are often what the military needs to enhance operational resilience.

Canada possesses a massive, largely untapped strength in this area: a thriving ecosystem of innovators with technologies ready to support military capability. By leveraging this existing strength, Canada can achieve two goals at once: protecting the environment and reinforcing our national defence.

The challenge for the Department of National Defence (DND) is identifying which technologies can be successfully adapted for military applications. 

Foresight is already playing a key role in accelerating, validating, and scaling these companies. With a portfolio of over 1,700 cleantech ventures, we have a ready-made catalogue of technologies that can be rapidly pivoted to support our national security, recognizing and supporting these efforts from the outset.

Advanced Energy Solutions for Defence

Advanced energy storage technologies enable cleaner cities, but also quieter, longer-lasting military equipment.

• AlumaPower’s quiet, reliable, and zero-emission generators provide mobile power solutions, perfect for reducing the acoustic and logistical footprint of deployed military applications.
• SolarSteam’s integrated solar thermal technology generates reliable, dispatchable power for applications like large-scale desalination, making it ideal for powering remote or forward operating bases and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. (NATO DIANA 2026 Participant)
• Grengine’s patented Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) provides rapidly deployed, scalable, and zero-emission power, which could reduce military reliance on noisy diesel generators and secure energy independence for mobile camps. (NATO DIANA Participant)

Environmental Monitoring and Maritime Surveillance

Environmental monitoring technologies like underwater imaging and LiDAR, designed for ocean or freshwater research, are also critical for defence. 

• Open Ocean Robotics’ advanced maritime surveillance capabilities directly support naval forces with critical oceanic monitoring and intelligence gathering.

Autonomous Systems and Data Intelligence

Drone imaging and geospatial data technology, often developed for forest management, wildfire monitoring and response, or precision agriculture applications, are transferable to defence and intelligence.

• Flash Forest and TreeTrack Intelligence’s drone-based reforestation and AI-driven land analysis technologies are transferable to military intelligence and logistics for highly accurate topographical mapping, anomaly detection in satellite imagery, or small payload deliveries in challenging terrains.
• FireSwarm’s ultra heavy-lift autonomous aerial system and AI-driven swarm technology, initially for wildfire suppression, provides dual-use capabilities for critical defence logistics, remote infrastructure protection, and emergency response in extreme environments. (NATO DIANA Participant)

Bridging the Gap Between Cleantech and National Security

Foresight acts as the strategic bridge between the innovation ecosystem and the defence sector. Through our Acceleration programs, we ensure companies are market-ready. With our Adoption Services, we do more than just make introductions—we provide the custom research, Lifecycle Assessments (LCAs), and detailed business cases necessary to validate that a technology designed for a civilian purpose can meet rigorous military demands. 

The strategy is not about choosing between “green” and “militarily effective,” but about recognizing that cleantech and military effectiveness reinforce one another. Modern defence forces run-on resilience, speed, and reliability—exactly what innovative cleantech delivers.

By partnering with Foresight to identify and validate adaptable technologies, the Canadian military can rapidly integrate world-class innovations and benefit from strategic advantages that have already been built here in Canada.  

This investment pays dividends in operational success, climate security, and economic competitiveness simultaneously.