With Canada selected to host a new international defence, security and resilience bank (DSRB), Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow are championing Toronto as the ideal location for its headquarters. The pair, joined by representatives from finance, academia, business, and defence industries, made their case at a press conference at Toronto Metropolitan University on Tuesday.
Why Toronto?
Chow emphasized Toronto's immediate readiness and its status as Canada's financial epicentre. "Canada has been chosen, now the question is — which Canadian city? The answer is Toronto," she stated. She highlighted that the Big Five banks, along with major institutional investors like OMERS and CPP Investments, are headquartered in the city, providing a unique concentration of financial expertise.
Premier Ford added that a Toronto-based DSRB would benefit all of Ontario, including rival bid city Ottawa. "They will be instrumental in making sure defence contracts don’t just stay here in Toronto, but get spread right around our great province," he said. "We want from east to west, from north to south, for everyone to benefit."
Provincial Support and Infrastructure
Ford confirmed that the province would assist in finding both interim and permanent homes for the bank. Provincially owned office space at Simcoe Place, 200 Front St. W., is being considered as an interim headquarters. The province is also prepared to leverage the $4-billion Protect Ontario Account Investment Fund to attract capital and issue a $500-million resilience bond to fund future defence projects.
What is the DSRB?
Modelled after the World Bank, the DSRB is a multinational financial institution designed to provide long-term liquidity and credit to defence and security industries across its anticipated 40 member nations, primarily NATO states and allies such as Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia, and South Korea. Nineteen nations have signed the founding charter and established the initial equity base.
Canada was officially chosen as the host nation in late April. Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax are all vying to become the bank's permanent home. Hosting the DSRB could bring up to 3,500 skilled jobs to the selected city. Prime Minister Mark Carney and his cabinet are expected to make a final decision later this year. Ford and Chow officially submitted Toronto's bid in December, with the province releasing its bid book the following month.
Support from Industry Leaders
Toronto's bid has garnered support from all major Canadian banks. BMO's Global Investment head Carrie Cook stated that a Toronto-based bank would "strengthen Canadian and allied defence and security sectors." Shaun Padulo, CEO of Hamilton-based Ontario Shipyards, noted that his company is among many provincial industries capable of contributing to Canada's defence sector. "As geopolitical pressures intensify, and as the need to strengthen NATO becomes more urgent, Canada has an opportunity to mobilize that industrial base in a much more deliberate way," he said.
Padulo added that Ontario's industrial base, particularly in sectors like automotive facing transition, could shift skilled workers and manufacturing capacity into defence work, but financing is essential. Etobicoke-Lakeshore MP James Maloney remarked, "When people think of Canada, and they think of the economic nucleus of this country, they think of Toronto. It’s not a hard sell to convince people that Toronto is not only one of the greatest cities in Canada, but one of the greatest cities in the world."
