Mark Sutcliffe: The global defence bank belongs in Ottawa, not Toronto

Parliament Hill is viewed below a Canada flag in Gatineau, Quebec, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press files

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In an ongoing series, advocates for the five Canadian cities vying to be the home of NATO’s new Defence, Security and Resilience Bank make their case. Today, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe on why the nation’s capital is the right choice.

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It’s understandable that some would think Toronto is the obvious city to host the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB). Toronto is Canada’s largest city and its financial capital.

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But the DSRB is not just another financial institution like a commercial bank or insurance company. In fact, we shouldn’t think about it as a bank at all. It’s a multinational collaboration and a critical tool for building strategic relationships with our allied partners at a critical time in human history. The DSRB will mobilize both people and capital and make strategic decisions about financing for NATO members and other countries, supporting complex multi-year defence projects that are typically avoided by the traditional lenders on Bay Street.

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The question for the federal government is not where to locate a bank, but where an important international security institution can operate most effectively from Day 1.

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On that question, the only answer is Canada’s National Capital Region.

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The DSRB’s success will depend less on access to capital (which can be raised globally) than on the natural co-ordination across governments, militaries and allied partners.

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That coordination already happens in Ottawa-Gatineau.

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Within the National Capital Region sit the Department of National Defence, Global Affairs Canada, the Privy Council Office, intelligence agencies and more than 130 embassies and foreign missions. These institutions are not adjacent to the DSRB’s mission; they are central to it. Decisions about procurement, export controls, security clearances and allied co‑operation are made here, daily.

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Ottawa-Gatineau is where policy meets execution.

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The DSRB is expected to generate approximately 3,500 high-value jobs in finance, research and defence-related sectors. But its true impact will come through its integration into the broader defence economy.

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That ecosystem already exists in Ottawa-Gatineau.

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The DSRB would not need to build an ecosystem around it. It would plug into one that is already operating. Not just any ecosystem. The most important defence innovation ecosystem in the country. Over 300 companies. More than 10,000 highly skilled workers.

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Choosing the headquarters location for an institution of this nature is not a matter of regional economic development. It is a strategic decision that will shape how effectively Canada, and its allies, respond to growing geopolitical risk.

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A finance-first approach risks adding friction where friction does not need to exist.

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Locating the bank outside the federal security ecosystem would require building new interfaces between policy-makers, defence officials and financiers — interfaces that already exist in Ottawa-Gatineau. That duplication would slow decisions and dilute accountability when speed and clarity are essential.