UBC Sauder School of Business has launched a Scale Up Program designed to help high-potential Canadian companies move from technical success into defence, dual-use, and advanced industrial markets. The program is led by the team that operates CDL-Vancouver and was announced at an event taking place during Web Summit Vancouver.

The program targets ventures working in AI, autonomy, sensing, cybersecurity, robotics, and advanced manufacturing — technologies that often face complex barriers in reaching deployment, including lengthy procurement processes, long sales cycles, and integration challenges with existing supply chains in Canada and allied markets.

Selected ventures receive mentorship from senior operators and defence-sector experts, procurement readiness programming, curated introductions to corporate and government partners, and exposure to defence primes, investors, and global collaborators. The program will support at least two B.C.-based cohorts per year, with approximately 30 ventures annually across the broader UBC Sauder venture ecosystem.

"Our pilot cohort has already demonstrated the potential of Canadian ventures to scale into defence and dual-use markets," said Darrell Kopke, executive director of the UBC Sauder Scale Up Program. "We are excited to expand support and help more companies integrate into domestic and allied supply chains."

Peter Dawe, vice president of defence strategy at the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), one of the program's partners, said initiatives like Scale Up are designed to help companies "navigate procurement, integrate into supply chains, and deliver at home and internationally."

The inaugural pilot cohort wraps up on May 20, after which founders will join a business development delegation to CANSEC 2026, Canada's largest defence and security trade show. Over its first three years, the program expects to support around 60 ventures.

Founding corporate partners include Mitsubishi Corporation Canada and Fasken, with support from PacifiCan, Innovate BC, and BDC.