Defence sector opportunities being explored for Shuswap-Okanagan

'We’ve been talking about different opportunities to bring people in and show what we have'

Defence sector opportunities being explored for Shuswap-Okanagan Published 12:15 pm Tuesday, July 14, 2026 Efforts are being made to expose Salmon Arm manufacturers to opportunities available in Canada, including the defence sector. Following her 2025 economic update presentation at the July 13 city council meeting, Salmon Arm Economic Development Society (SAEDS) executive director Kate Watson was asked by Coun.

Tim Lavery if SAEDS had looked at the impact U.S. tariffs may be having on the local manufacturing sector. “Is there any thoughts or abilities or progression about doing that analysis with our local manufacturing industries?” Lavery asked.

Watson said SAEDS does not yet have a strategy in place, though it has become part of the Okanagan Manufacturing Network, which she said is working on a larger scale to improve trade within Canada — in alignment with the federal government. “We’re trying to get all of our manufacturing business on there and we’ve been working with them, we’ve hosted some meetings and we’ve got some networking events...,” Watson said. “We’ve also been working with the COEDC (Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission) out of Kelowna on potential collaboration around new initiatives from the feds which would be in the defence sector.

“So we’ve been talking about different opportunities to bring people in and show what we have.” In May, the COEDC hosted a forum on the defence sector and its growth potential in the region. Providing opening remarks, Kelowna MP and Secretary of State (defence procurement) Stephen Fuhr highlighted how defence investment is shaping domestic supply chains and creating economic opportunities across the country.

“The COEDC is actively working to support growth in the regional defence and defence-adjacent sectors and today marked an important first step in sharing this information with the community,” the COEDC shared in a May 20 social media post. Watson said SAEDS has also brought BDC (the Business Development Bank of Canada) into the community to “show their programs for export and diversification and around defence as well.” Alex Averiss, the BDC’s manager of major accounts for the defence sector, also spoke at the May 20 forum, explaining how the BDC “supports companies looking to scale into defence markets through financing, advisory services, and strategic growth planning.”

“So we’re using what’s externally... available for us to share to our businesses...,” Watson said, suggesting SAEDS could look at doing an “environmental scan around that.” The SAEDS 2025 economic update identifies manufacturing as one of Salmon Arm’s “reliable growth anchors” and one of the city’s top five fastest-growing sectors since 2015.