About Us

Our Focus

Thales Canada is a leader in aerospace, cyber & digital, and defence markets. As the key provider of naval in-service support, we ensure the operational readiness of more than 100 Royal Canadian Navy vessels. We are a core partner in LC4ISR development and modernization for the Canadian Armed Forces, and a provider of advanced, Canadian-manufactured thermal-imaging solutions exported to over 20 countries. Thales is also a trusted R&D partner to the Department of National Defence, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, and the National Research Council. Globally, Thales is a leader in advanced sensors, radar, and sonar.

Our Infrastructure

Canada hosts key Thales Centres of Excellence, including cortAIx, the AI Centre of Excellence in Montreal, and the Thales Optronics Centre in Saint-Laurent. In 2025, Thales opened the National Digital Excellence Centre in Fredericton, a secure, dual-use defence innovation facility.

Our Impact

We collaborate with more than 700 Canadian partners across our defence, security, and civil businesses.

Recognized among Canada’s Top 100 Corporate R&D spenders and Top Employers, Thales creates opportunities nationwide.

Thales is committed to a safer, greener, and more inclusive world. We support economic reconciliation in Canada through partnerships with Indigenous communities, including Malahat Nation, a commitment to Partnership Accreditation in Indigenous Relations, and contracts with Indigenous-led businesses.

LEARN MORE

cortAIx

National Digital Excellence Centre (NDEC)

Canada's Top 100 Employers

Trust My Tech

OUR AREAS OF FOCUS

In Canada, our work spans aerospace, defence, cyber and digital — advancing national capability through local partnerships, supply chain engagement, and domestic investment. Explore the highlight below to see how we’re delivering impact across Canada.

Defence Expertise

As a trusted prime contractor and long-term partner, Thales delivers advanced capabilities to all branches of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Coast Guard. We provide the technology, expertise, and support needed to enable mission success and maintain a tactical advantage across land, sea, and air.

Learn more

Our Innovation Story

At Thales, innovation is collaborative by design. Through partnerships across academia, industry, and the broader innovation ecosystem, Thales fuels economic growth and supports domestic sovereignty. Recognizing Canada's Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) objectives as a cornerstone of long-term industrial growth and economic resilience, our innovation partnerships create opportunities for Canadian start-ups and small- and medium-sized businesses to develop and commercialize advanced technologies. This includes purpose-built collaborations such as our National Digital Excellence Centre in Fredericton, NB, and our Naval Technology Innovation Challenges with COVE, which create opportunities for small- and medium-sized businesses to develop real solutions that address the operational needs of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Canada is also home to cortAIx, a Thales AI Centre of Excellence dedicated to advancing the development of trusted AI-based systems for critical environments to meet the operational needs of Thales customers.

Research & Development

A Canadian Top 100 leader in research and development, Thales has more than 50 years of driving innovation across aerospace, defence, cyber & digital sectors.

We play a leading role in strengthening the national innovation ecosystem through strategic partnerships with more than 55 Canadian research labs and institutes – including the National Research Council and Defence Research and Development Canada. Collaborations with small- and medium-sized businesses, startups, and academic institutions enable us to accelerate the development of advanced capabilities that reinforce Canada’s position as a global innovation leader.

cortAIx

Canada is home to cortAIx, Thales Group’s global accelerator for artificial intelligence research, systems and sensors. Our innovative and agile AI-focused teams are making a significant impact on Canada’s AI ecosystem and critical markets worldwide by developing AI applications that enable more efficient data analysis and decision support for armed forces, aircraft manufacturers, and more.

cortAIx

Trust My Tech

Trust My Tech is an open innovation program designed to foster collaboration by pairing innovative technology startups, scale-ups, subject-matter experts, and software editors with Thales’ global experts, infrastructure and customer footprint. The program also provides participating SMEs with coaching and domain expertise to help accelerate technology adoption and commercialization.

Trust My Tech

Innovation Partnerships

We collaborate with start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to accelerate the development of new technologies, strengthen defence capabilities, and help bring emerging solutions to market. This includes programs like SYNERGY, which accelerates the commercialization of advanced military technologies developed by Canadian MilTech SMBs, as well as our partnership with COVE Ocean, in which we work with start-ups and small businesses to develop new capabilities in support of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Our innovation ecosystem also includes partnerships with Indigenous-owned businesses such as PLATO, which contributes to the LC4ISR domain by testing critical systems and supporting skills development and training.

Synergy COVE

National Digital Excellence Centre

Through our National Digital Excellence Centre (NDEC) in Fredericton, we’re building deep cyber expertise and delivering advanced solutions for critical infrastructure, mission systems, and organizations across the commercial and defence sectors. The NDEC provides educational institutions, academia, start-ups, small and medium-sized businesses, industry, and government with the resources to collaboratively develop cyber and digital technologies and strengthen Canada’s collective cyber resilience.

Established in partnership with the McKenna Institute at the University of New Brunswick, the NDEC also hosts initiatives such as the Joint Economic Development Initiative's 12-week cyber skills program, which provides Indigenous students with hands-on training for in-demand cybersecurity careers, and a Cyber Education Program that offers hands-on learning alongside Thales cybersecurity experts.

National Digital Excellence Centre (NDEC)