Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee, for the opportunity to appear before you today.
I'm pleased to be able to discuss the bureau of research, engineering and advanced leadership in innovation and science, otherwise known as BOREALIS, and its role in strengthening Canada's defence and security innovation.
As the committee has heard from previous witnesses, Canada has world-class talent, cutting-edge research and globally competitive firms. The challenge is ensuring that sovereign Canadian technologies can move quickly from research and development into operational use in support of Canada's defence and security.
BOREALIS was established as part of Canada's defence industrial strategy to help accelerate that transition. Its focus is on strengthening the pathways between research, development, testing and operational adoption by better connecting government, industry, academia and military end-users around shared mission priorities.
A key component of this effort is the establishment of defence innovation secure hubs, otherwise known as DISHs. These hubs provide secure environments where Canadian companies, researchers and government can work together to design, prototype, test and refine their technologies.
In November 2025, a pilot DISH was established in Halifax, focused on the undersea domain, including autonomous systems, advanced sensing and AI-enabled analytics. The pilot has already supported collaborative testing and experimentation activities, helping Canadian companies evaluate and refine their technologies.