Veterans Affairs Committee on Dec. 9th, 2025

[Tatiana Auguste, Liberal, Terrebonne, QC]

Thank you very much.

Could you tell us a little more about the impact of military service? What have you seen among the participants in your program? How does it affect them personally in terms of wanting to become entrepreneurs?

[David Howard]

It's absolutely incredible. Every time we finish a session, we're getting letters and support and emails and phone calls from graduates saying, “You've given me my life back. Now I'm on my own. I'm out and competitive. I'm surviving. I'm creating my own business. I'm creating my own business hours. I'm not relying on government support anymore. I have the freedom. It's everything that I've always wanted.”

We hear it every single day from graduates. It's pretty rewarding to sit back and listen and be a part of this. It's a great program, and it's great to see all of the veterans that are succeeding after transitioning.

[Tatiana Auguste, Liberal, Terrebonne, QC]

How do you envision your work evolving to promote veteran entrepreneurship in the coming years? If anything were possible, what would your work with veterans look like?

[David Howard]

You know what? If everything's possible, we would probably add four more instructors. We'd be full. We'd be offering this program every month. It's a six-week program. That's the need; that's the request for it. If we had that funding and support, then we'd certainly do it. If it stays as is, then it stays as is and we will work until there's no more requirement for that, but we're lucky to have some incredible support from corporate Canada and, really, everyday Canadians who support our veterans and those who are on guard for our country.

[Tatiana Auguste, Liberal, Terrebonne, QC]

I am not sure if you mentioned it, but how many people participate in your training camp during each six-week session?

[David Howard]

Right now, it's 40 individuals, four times a year. That's 160. We've just expanded that, so it started at 40 in past years, and then it got to 80, and next year we'll be at 160 individuals going through the program.

[Tatiana Auguste, Liberal, Terrebonne, QC]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Démétré, earlier you mentioned your work with indigenous veterans. Could you elaborate on what Hero Lodge does for indigenous veterans?

[Jocelyn Démétré]

We are located at the 62nd parallel, on the eastern arm of Great Slave Lake. The nearest community is 70 nautical miles away. We are in the woods. We even have an electric fence to keep bears and predators away. It is a truly remote location in the woods. This model responds very well to the needs of indigenous peoples in terms of fishing and the outdoors.

We dream of forming numerous partnerships with them. We have been there for several years, and I am sure I would learn a lot. We could take our project to the next level if we partnered with indigenous peoples. I tried, but it didn't work out. We even received emails from community leaders who told us that the model perfectly met their needs. They were referred by Veterans Affairs Canada, or VAC. There is interest, but we would need to coordinate with VAC. The model is incredible for us and for indigenous peoples.

Cynthia and I hired an indigenous cook for a year. She would go into the woods to gather herbs and twigs. We loved our experience with this lady. I can easily imagine partnerships. It would be wonderful. However, again, you have to have the necessary resources.

[Tatiana Auguste, Liberal, Terrebonne, QC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much.

Thank you to both of you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Démétré. And again, I'd like to thank you and your wife for your service.

Mr. Howard, thank you very much for joining us.

We will be suspending shortly, just to say a proper goodbye to all of you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Resuming the session.

I invite everyone to take a seat.

We have a second panel as part of our study.

I would like to thank everyone very much for joining us today.

As individuals, I would like to say welcome to Mr. John Proctor, partner, cybersecurity, PricewaterhouseCoopers, who is joining us today. From the Veteran Business Network Institute, we have Mr. Caleb Walker, director.

Each of you will have, as I mentioned, five minutes to deliver your opening remarks. Once you have completed your remarks, we will open the floor for questions.

Mr. Proctor, I will invite you to give your opening remarks for five minutes.

[John Proctor, Partner, Cybersecurity, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, As an Individual]

Good afternoon, Chair and honourable members.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.

I'm here to discuss the barriers facing Canada's military veterans as they seek to become entrepreneurs. I speak from experience, having served in both the British and the Canadian Armed Forces, as someone who's run their own company and taken it public on the TSX, and as a formal mentor to fellow veterans in business.

While access to capital is frequently cited as a primary obstacle, I believe it is more of a symptom. The root cause is a series of interconnected gaps in perception, networks and translation that ultimately create a high risk profile for veterans in the eyes of lenders and investors.

The first and most foundational gap is one of perception. In the U.K. and the U.S., the military is one of the most trusted and venerated institutions in the country. This creates a halo effect for veterans entering the business world. They are often seen as disciplined, reliable and possessing elite leadership skills.

In Canada, that perception is not as strong. The Canadian Armed Forces is not yet widely seen by the business community as a premier stepping stone to a second career. This means that from day one, a Canadian veteran is already facing an uphill battle to establish credibility. Changing this narrative isn't just about helping veterans. A stronger post-service reputation would also be a powerful recruitment tool for the CAF itself.

This leads to the second barrier, the network and mentorship gap. The military is an insular, high-trust community. Upon release, veterans are disconnected from that built-in network. They must build a professional civilian network from scratch, which is a daunting task, yet critical for any entrepreneur.

Organizations like Treble Victor exist to bridge this gap, but most veterans don't know it exists. Most importantly, they struggle to find mentors who understand both the military experience and the realities of the business world.

I personally mentored two veteran start-ups under a programme run by what was then the Prince's Trust. It was by far the most effective support program for veteran entrepreneurs in Canada, pairing them with experienced business leaders. Its closure left a significant void.

Today, the landscape is fragmented, leaving veterans to navigate a confusing array of small programs, often guided by transition staff who, while well-intentioned, have little to no personal experience running a business.

At the same time, I have personally been denied the ability to use my VAC education and training budget for training that would not only have enhanced my skill set but could have enabled other veterans to join businesses.

The third barrier is the cultural and skills translation gap. Veterans possess immensely valuable skills in leadership, logistics and performing under pressure, but there's a disconnect. On one hand, veterans must learn to humbly translate their experience, for example, in terms of project management, human resources and operational leadership. On the other hand, the cultural shift from military to business is profound. In the military, you become an expert at managing pre-allocated budgets, spending other people's money. In entrepreneurship, you are directly responsible for revenue generation. You only eat what you kill. This requires a fundamental rewiring of one's financial mindset.

Let's pull this all together from a lender's perspective. You have an applicant who is disconnected from the local business network; they're an unknown quantity from an institution not widely seen as a business incubator; they lack a mentor to guide them, and they are navigating a difficult cultural and financial transition. Their business plan may be solid, but the perceived risk surrounding that founder is simply too high. Access to capital becomes the final wall to hit, but it was not the first one this veteran faced.

To truly empower veterans and entrepreneurs and unlock their economic potential, I recommend three key actions.

Establish a centralized program. Create a single, unified and well-promoted national program for veteran entrepreneurs, a one-stop shop that provides cohesive training, resources and a clear path from idea to launch.

Reinstate a national mentorship network. Rebuild a robust mentorship program modelled on the success of the Prince's Trust, connecting veterans with experienced business leaders who can provide credible guidance and help them build social capital.

Champion the veteran entrepreneur as a narrative. We must begin to actively celebrate our veteran entrepreneurs by promoting their success as we change the national perception and show the business community and future recruits that the Canadian Armed Forces are a world-class foundation for building a business and a stronger Canada.

A final concrete step would be to ensure that veterans can use their education and training benefit for high-quality entrepreneurship and business management courses.

By addressing these foundational issues, we can turn a high risk profile into a high potential one, transform our nation's veterans from heroes in uniform to leaders, and grow our economy.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much, Mr. Proctor.

Mr. Walker, you have five minutes.

[Caleb Walker, Director, VBNI]

Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to share my experiences on the current state of veteran entrepreneurship in Canada. I did 20 years in the Canadian Army, retiring as a lieutenant-colonel. I did three tours to Afghanistan, two of them combat tours to Kandahar.

Other than being a Canadian military veteran, I have two experiences that are relevant to today’s conversation.

One, I'm a serial entrepreneur. I founded and sold a software company for seven figures. I am now co-owner of a multi-million dollar business, 123 Cyber, a veteran majority-owned business with more than 10 employees.

Two, I founded and built the non-profit Veteran Business Network Institute, VBNI, which has 200 veteran business owners. We run quarterly veteran “pitch fests” and annual events. The last pitch fest was in Halifax in September 2025. It was attended by the Veterans Affairs Canada associate deputy minister.

Today I'd like to present three actionable policies that the Canadian government can implement right now. I hope my focused recommendations can add value immediately.

As successful business owner Charlie Munger once said, “Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome.” I'll start with the current outcomes of Canadian veteran business owners in the very narrow space of those who sell directly to the Canadian federal government. We don’t know how many Canadian veteran business owners sell to the Canadian federal government, because Canada doesn’t track those numbers. Using data from my non-profit, I would estimate that there are a few dozen businesses. The community is small. Other than a few outliers, their total revenue from the Canadian federal government would be $50 million to $100 million.

When compared with the United States, with 10 times the population, you might expect Canada to be 40 to 50 businesses and the U.S. to be 400 and 500 businesses. That would be incorrect. The U.S. has over 1,000 times more businesses. As of July 2022, there were 43,544 active veteran-owned businesses registered and doing business with U.S. federal agencies, receiving $31.2 billion in federal contracts. It's estimated that those federal contracts account for only 30% to 50% of those companies' total revenue. When including commercial, state and international revenue, it totals $72 billion to $120 billion of revenue a year, with an estimated 650,000 to 900,000 employees and jobs created in the country. These companies are overrepresented in such industries as the defence supply chain, infrastructure, cyber, IT modernization, engineering services, logistics and construction.

Why am I focusing on this small and narrow example, and why today of all days? It's because Canada is announcing generational investments into the Canadian military, and we need all those industries that I just mentioned today. Unfortunately, there is not a sufficient Canadian small business ecosystem to consume the investments, veteran or not veteran; therefore, most of that investment will go to large American and European defence companies. Where are the Canadian business-focused veterans who would build these companies in Canada, you ask? They all work for large international defence companies looking to win the generational investment. There are no paths or incentives for them to build businesses here.

If the United States has better outcomes, what are the incentives that created them? First, their Congress authorized a government-wide procurement goal of awarding at least 3% of federal contract award dollars to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. Like Canada’s indigenous procurement target of 5%, it intended to build a robust veteran business ecosystem, leveraging the decades of government, security and military experience those veterans already have. Further, for every large U.S. defence contract, the large defence primes need to include subcontracting plans with veteran-owned businesses. Lastly, the U.S. has a mature veteran incubation and funding ecosystem, ensuring that those businesses are procurement-ready to work with federal agencies and other government contractors.

“Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome.” If you want to build a successful veteran entrepreneurship ecosystem that can deliver on the generational investment that Canada is doing for the Canadian military today, that can expand and sell commercially and internationally, building jobs and building the Canadian economy, you need to change the incentives.

I have three policy and funding recommendations today to enact immediately. First, follow Canada’s indigenous procurement target of 5% and build a 3% target for veteran small and medium businesses that matches the U.S. policy. Use this moment of a once-in-a-generation defence investment to build a veteran business ecosystem for all the industries we need. Second, adjust Canada’s industrial and technological benefits policy to include incentives and multipliers for large defence companies to work with Canadian veteran-owned small and medium businesses. Third, look to fund the University of Ottawa's mission entrepreneur program to build a sustainable mentorship and entrepreneurship program immediately focused on the Canadian defence and government space.

These policy actions could be implemented quickly and could fundamentally change the incentive structure for Canadian veterans, incentivizing them to build successful businesses here. These incentives would open up partnerships, funding and larger effort in this space.

Thank you for your time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you, Mr. Walker.

We will now open the floor.

We have Mr. Tolmie for six minutes.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to our witnesses.

Thank you for your service, whether it was in the U.K. or elsewhere. I love saying to the English that I love a Scottish accent. It's because I'm Scottish. I can't help it.

I have questions for both of you gentlemen.

Mr. Proctor, in your opening statement, you talked about a blind spot. You referenced it, and it's something I've been honing in on myself. Can you expand a little on that please, sir?

[John Proctor]

I'll give you an example. In the U.K. and in the U.S., they literally have annual awards for veterans in business. It's a huge event. It publicizes successful veterans. However, if you're going to join the Canadian Armed Forces, then that's the journey; you're just going to join the CAF.

What if it's part of the journey, though? What if it's a way of saying that you're joining the CAF, but it's a stepping stone to another role inside Canada's economy? It's a tremendous stepping stone, but that means we need to have the business community say it will value them when they come out. It won't be a case of not understanding anything on their résumés, which is generally one of the key concerns.

It's a two-way street. The CAF has to say that, as it transitions these people out, yes, it's going to help them take those skills and get them ready. It's also a part for the business community to say that it recognizes who is coming out and finds value in them. I think that becomes key.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

I appreciate that. Thank you so much.

I want to home in with my questions. I understand the military. When you're in a squadron or a platoon, you're allocated funds, and that's what you're allowed to spend. Then you transition out. You said, “You can only eat what you kill.”

If the government announced a new veteran entrepreneurship grant program tomorrow—let's say $10 million annually—versus reducing regulatory burden and taxes for all small businesses, including veteran-owned ones, which one would have a bigger impact on veteran entrepreneurial success? Would you rather compete for limited government grants or operate in an environment where businesses can thrive? What are your thoughts?

[John Proctor]

I think having businesses thrive overall has to be key, with that point of saying we can guide these companies through. Do I adore the idea of the 3% ITB? Absolutely. We see how it's working in the U.S. You see it when a U.S. RFP comes out. It's great, but it's that whole cultural shift of saying we're going to help these veterans as they come out.

We had Hero Lodge and others here. If you're coming out of the military and finding new purpose, how good is that relative to coming out and feeling lost? It doesn't matter if they're building houses, working in tech or doing cybersecurity. Having that entrepreneurship, helping them find purpose in the businesses and helping them drive the Canadian economy gives them much more to focus on than dwelling on the past, to a certain degree.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

I'm going off on a bit of a tangent here. I recently read a book called Start-up Nation. I don't know if any of you have read it, but it's about the entrepreneurship of Israeli soldiers and the environment it has created.

Do you see that from your perspective in Canada? Mr. Walker, you have your hand up, and Mr. Proctor, you're shaking your head.

[John Proctor]

I'll let him take this.

[Caleb Walker]

Before this business, I actually ran a business in which I trained veterans in technology systems. I trained thousands of them. Obviously, if you stay in the military for 20 years, there's going to be a certain amount of institutionalization. You were talking about Start-up Nation. Just to compare apples to apples, a lot of those people do three years in the military, and then they leave. It's really a stepping stone to get into cybersecurity.

What I have seen typically is that the younger people—the master corporals, the corporals and the young officers—are actually extremely good at hustling, finding new ways of looking for stuff and making it happen. The opportunity is there. If you really focused in on the people who have only a few years in the military and now are pulling out, based on the culture change that John was talking about, then that would make sense.

Obviously, with the people who have been in for a bit longer, it's a little harder for them to change their mindset, because they have a certain culture and a certain way of thinking. Apples to apples, though, I think there's quite a possibility of leveraging people, particularly reservists, who are maybe younger and have the ability to drive that kind of start-up in the military sector.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

I just want to make sure that we're using “hustling” as a good term.

Mr. Walker, you talked about the U.S. model of the 3%. Tell me how that would operate here in Canada. I want to give you another 30 seconds to just expand on it.

[Caleb Walker]

It's a goal, just like it is with the indigenous 5%. Some of the legislation allows sole-source contracting to companies and preferring the veteran businesses up to a certain level. Then, as part of large major contracts in Canada for anything more than $100 million that are under the ITB requirements, you would just add multipliers—maybe a three-times multiplier—that basically incentivize all defence companies to go and find veteran-owned businesses to work with and deliver to the Canadian government.

There are a variety of options. I think just start with the 3% up front, and then from there you can get into the small details of ways to incentivize, which really wouldn't be any more funding. It would just be changing the perspective of the utility of working with people who have decades of experience with defence and security. That would be the way to go forward with it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much, Mr. Walker.

Now I would like to invite Mr. Casey for six minutes.