# Canada’s NRC IRAP says defence and dual-use technology investments exceed C$135 million > The National Research Council of Canada said its Defence Industry Assist initiative has supported 860 small and medium-sized businesses since its January 2026 launch. - Canonical URL: https://newsverum.com/en/news/canada-nrc-irap-defence-dual-use-technology-investment-2026 - Publisher: Newsverum - Section: Technology - Country: Canada - Published: 2026-10-15T14:33:34+00:00 - Updated: 2026-10-15T14:33:34+00:00 - Event / data period: 2026-10-14 - Other editions: [Türkçe](https://newsverum.com/tr/news/canada-nrc-irap-defence-dual-use-technology-investment-2026.md), [العربية](https://newsverum.com/ar/news/canada-nrc-irap-defence-dual-use-technology-investment-2026.md), [Français](https://newsverum.com/fr/news/canada-nrc-irap-defence-dual-use-technology-investment-2026.md), [Español](https://newsverum.com/es/news/canada-nrc-irap-defence-dual-use-technology-investment-2026.md), [Deutsch](https://newsverum.com/de/news/canada-nrc-irap-defence-dual-use-technology-investment-2026.md), [Português](https://newsverum.com/pt/news/canada-nrc-irap-defence-dual-use-technology-investment-2026.md) On 14 October, the National Research Council of Canada said Defence Industry Assist (DI Assist) had invested more than C$135 million in defence and dual-use technologies since the initiative launched in January 2026. The council said it had supported 860 Canadian businesses, enabled more than 540 innovation projects and supported over 2,300 jobs. The program supports work in cybersecurity, communications infrastructure, maritime and underwater systems, aerospace, drones and space. The figures are cumulative outputs reported by the government, not an independent evaluation or measurement of economic impact. They summarize activity across several fields rather than spending in any one technology area. ## Data ### NRC Defence Industry Assist program Program support for defence and dual-use technology businesses Methodology: Figures are cumulative program activity reported by NRC since DI Assist launched in January 2026. | date | label | description | status | |---|---|---|---| | 2026-10-14 | NRC Defence Industry Assist program | NRC programme-outcomes release dated 14 October 2026. | occurred | Sources: · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/canada-nrc-irap-defence-dual-use-technology-investment-2026/data/reported-program-output?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/canada-nrc-irap-defence-dual-use-technology-investment-2026/data/reported-program-output?lang=en&format=csv) ### NRC DI Assist: reported cumulative program outputs Investment, business and employment figures reported by NRC since the January 2026 launch. Methodology: C$135,000,000 is a lower bound (“more than C$135 million”). Project and job counts described as “more than” are also shown as thresholds, not exact totals. These are government-reported cumulative program outputs, not an independent impact evaluation. | Measure | Reported threshold or amount | Businesses supported | Innovation projects | Jobs supported | |---|---|---|---|---| | Cumulative investment since January 2026; lower bound | 135000000 | | | | | Businesses supported since January 2026 | | 860 | | | | Innovation projects enabled; lower bound | | | 540 | | | Jobs supported; lower bound | | | | 2300 | Sources: · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/canada-nrc-irap-defence-dual-use-technology-investment-2026/data/nrc-di-assist-reported-output-table?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/canada-nrc-irap-defence-dual-use-technology-investment-2026/data/nrc-di-assist-reported-output-table?lang=en&format=csv) ## Sources - [National Research Council Canada]() (Source checked: 2026-10-15; Published: 2026-10-14) --- Cite the canonical URL above. [Editorial standards and corrections](https://newsverum.com/en/editorial)