Carney launches Canada’s first national security strategy in two decades and commits up to $1.6 billion to AI firm Cohere

Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government launched Canada’s national security strategy on Friday, the first in over two decades¹. In the same remarks he announced what his office called a landmark investment in Cohere to scale secure, sovereign AI¹.

The government will invest up to $1.6 billion in the Toronto-based AI company as part of a $7-billion fundraise^2,3. The investment comes alongside the release of the national security strategy³.

Reports of the size of the stake differ. One account put Canada’s investment at up to $1.1 billion⁴, while others give the figure as up to $1.6 billion^2,3. The reports do not explain the difference, so the final figure should be checked against the government’s own terms when they are published.

Why it matters to investors

The investment gives Ottawa an equity stake in a domestic AI firm⁴. It comes as Washington’s allies work to reduce their technological reliance on the US⁴, and the government framed the deal around sovereign AI¹.

The security strategy itself ties defence to economic policy. It calls for worst-case scenario preparations, including war⁵, and focuses on defending the economy as well as on the possibility of conflict⁶. One commentary welcomed the plan as pointing Canada in the right direction on sovereignty⁷.

The strategy arrived on the same day as a critical audit. The auditor general said Ottawa’s sluggish bureaucracy leaves critical gaps in the Canadian military’s ammunition supply⁸. The scathing assessment was released the same day federal officials published the strategy⁸.

What to watch

The Cohere fundraise of $7 billion³ will show how much private capital joins the government’s stake. The final terms, including how much of the up to $1.6 billion is deployed², will determine the size of Ottawa’s holding.

The strategy’s call to prepare for worst-case scenarios⁵ raises the question of follow-up spending and procurement. The auditor general’s findings on ammunition supply⁸ point to where gaps already exist.

For investors in Canadian technology and defence, the combination signals a government willing to take direct stakes in strategic companies^1,4. Whether further investments follow will show whether Cohere is a one-off or the start of a broader industrial policy tied to national security³.