An Italian delegation led by Admiral Giacinto Ottaviani, National Armaments Director, travelled to Ottawa for the CANSEC fair 2026 – the most important trade exhibition in the defence and security sector in Canada.
On this occasion, the Embassy of Italy in Ottawa organized, in collaboration with ITA/ICE Toronto and in coordination with Canadian authorities, the “Italy-Canada Defence Cooperation Forum”. This initiative provided an important platform to showcase the Italian defence industry through the strong and high-level participation of institutional and business leaders from both Countries. Amongst them, Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, Hon. Stephen Fuhr’s presence was particularly significant. He underlined the numerous opportunities for bilateral collaboration arising both from Canada’s rearmament program and from the already well-established relationships with the Italian industrial counterparts, with particular reference to the International Flight Training School (IFTS) in Decimomannu.
Among the numerous participants, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Industry Karim Bardeesy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Defence Ministry Sherry Romanado, and former Minister Marco Mendicino were also in attendance. Assistant Deputy Minister for Defence Heather Sheehy and Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Director General David Hutchison joined Admiral Ottaviani and General Casali in a panel focused on reinforcing G2G cooperation in the defence sector. Representatives from several leading companies from both Countries also took part, including Telesat, CAE, Leonardo, and Fincantieri, as well as the President of Assosicurezza, representing Italian SMEs.
The Ambassador of Italy to Canada, Alessandro Cattaneo, opened the Forum by emphasizing the commitment made by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Prime Minister Mark Carney to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in strategically important sectors. He also recalled the upcoming Italy-Canada Business Forum, promoted by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani, which is scheduled to take place in Toronto at the end of October.
CANSEC Forum also provided an excellent opportunity to announce several concrete achievements. First, two MoUs were signed: one between the two Defence Ministries regarding defence materials, and another between the Italian company Wass – part of Fincantieri’s group – and the Canadian company Magellan Aerospace regarding cooperation on submarine defence capabilities. Second, during the Forum, Leonardo also announced it had reached an agreement with the Canadian company ITPS – a test pilot training school located in London (Ontario) – for the acquisition of 6 Leonardo M-346 aircrafts (+6 optional). This is the first sale of its kind for Leonardo in North America.
