Space engineers wanting to escape political uncertainty in the United States are welcome to come to Canada. That was the message delivered by Canadian Space Agency (CSA) President Lisa Campbell during her keynote speech at the Space Canada Horizons conference today in Ottawa.
This is the third year in a row that space industry association Space Canada has hosted the Horizons conference. Each of these conferences have been extremely well-attended, and headlined top space experts and decision-makers in their programs.
“Canada is open for business,” Campbell told the packed room of Horizons attendees. “We’re open for investment, we will be growing and diversifying our space sector, and if people want to come and work here and help us, the more the better. There’s a race for talent in space around the world. And this is something that I say a lot to young people who are looking for career opportunities: They may not feel it right away, but they’re actually in high demand around the world.”
Campbell’s declaration came out just hours after President Trump ratcheted up his ongoing tariff war yet again, by doubling duties on Canadian aluminum and steel from 25% to 50%. “We know the recent months have been challenging [for Canadian companies],” she said by way of understatement, “and that typical ways of doing business have been impacted by a shifting environment. No doubt that’s been difficult to navigate: Some of you are facing unexpected hurdles and expenses. We understand that and particularly for small businesses who make up the majority of Canada’s space industry ecosystem, this can be a significant setback.”
The good news? When it comes to the CSA’s support of the Canadian space sector, “we’re committed to sharing as much as we can in real time, working together on the same team,” Campbell said. “We are a partnership, supporting your efforts to tackle these unprecedented challenges.”
One area where the Canadian space sector can potentially find new markets — as our access to the U.S. market continues to contract — is in Europe. In fact, “For almost five decades, Canada’s cooperation agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) has helped propel Canadian innovation beyond our shores,” said Campbell. “In the last six years, Canadian entities were awarded over 230 ESA funded contracts —and every dollar Canadian companies receiving contracts related to ESA programs generated almost $3 to a three-to-one ratio money for Canadian businesses, and money injected into Canadian Canada’s economy.” Worth noting: As the United States is breaking long-standing partnerships left, right, and centre, Canada’s steadiness and reliability is very attractive to our international partners. In the context of the Canadian space sector, “we hold a unique position as ESA’s only non-European cooperating state, and we were among the first 11 to join after ESA was created,” said Campbell. “We’re trusted partners and we take that confidence very seriously.”
