Toronto vs. Montreal vs. Vancouver vs. Ottawa: These are the cities vying for major global defence hub

Judy Trinh reports on the race to host Canada's new Defence Security Resilience Bank, as major cities lay out their bids on why they should be chosen.

OTTAWA - The federal government has yet to fire the starting pistol or even map out the course, but contenders are racing to launch their bids to host the headquarters of a new global bank.

The Defence Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) will provide lower interest loans to companies in NATO nations to help them develop and build their military and security technology and infrastructure.

Getting that capital is harder for smaller and medium sized enterprises, especially in countries without a strong banking system.

As many as 40 countries could join the bank. The DSRB is aiming to have US$135 billion in assets through pooled funds. The financial institution could employ as many as 3,500 people.

The federal government hasn’t sent out a request for proposals, but that hasn’t stopped politicians from Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver from lobbying for their cities in news conferences.

CTV News asked two experts about what criteria there should be and which city has the best chances of winning.

The frontrunners

Dominique Babin, a partner at Dentons, a global law firm says the DSRB headquarters should be a city that has easy access to “all the right players in the supply chain.” That means proximity to expertise and workforce and “an ecosystem where defence projects are actually happening.”

The majority of the Bank’s members will be in Europe, which Babin says calls for an airport that’s an international hub.

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“Because this is a multi-lateral institution – the city where it will be established needs to have a good cultural sensibility. I think it needs to be able to communicate with different players in different countries.”

For Babin, the competition is a two-horse race between Toronto and Montreal.

Two solitudes

A win by the Parti-Quebecois in the upcoming Quebec provincial election could result in another referendum on separation. Babin says she doesn’t expect that to be much of a factor.

“By international standards, (Quebec) is a still a very stable economy.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he’s not planning to raise the spectre of a referendum to diminish Montreal’s bid.

As proof, he uttered “Go Habs” during a news conference on Tuesday. Instead, Ford is racing ahead to launch a video on social media promoting Toronto as Canada’s finance hub.

The Premier also said a Toronto building has already been set aside as a possible home for the DSRB.

Dark Horses

Gerry Faustino, a partner at Deloitte, is taking a neutral stance but says there could be dark horse candidates in the race which haven’t yet declared.

“There’s a cottage drone industry that is in in the prairies. (Alberta) also has an emerging industry in precision parts manufacturing, and they are considered as the gateway to the north.” Faustino says Alberta is also home to a lot of Canada’s “energy sovereignty” which would be beneficial for kickstarting defence projects.

Halifax should not be overlooked because Nova Scotia is becoming a hub for defence start-ups. Faustino points out that Halifax also has the advantage of easy access to a deep-water port that ships to Europe.

Compared to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, Ottawa is the least connected hub when it comes to international travel. It has direct flights to 10 countries, but only two to Europe (Paris and London). But the nation’s capital does have the most diplomatic ties.

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Ottawa is home to more than 130 foreign missions and embassies.

“It’s the seat of policy and decision making. … It’s also a strong innovation and emerging technology hub,” Faustino said.

Location, location, location

The financial institution also wants to attract Asian nations to join the bank.

Although it’s the furthest away from the DSRB’s main European clients, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, says his city is “strategically placed” to handle the growth in demand for defence from Asia.

“A big chunk of what’s going in the planet will be in Asia,” Sim said. “We’re the gateway to the Pacific. We are actually in the perfect time zone to bridge those gaps.”

Mayor Sim says all he wants is a fair bidding process to showcase Vancouver’s credentials.

The federal government has yet to lay out the timeline for when it will choose what city will host the defence bank.

John Fragos, the press secretary for Finance Minister Francois-Phillippe Champagne, said in an email that the government was “pleased with the trust instilled in Canada by participants to host the bank.”

“We will have more to say on the matter soon. In the interim we remain committed to advancing this project in the interest of global security.”