Beyond Submarines: Canada Needs a Digital Maritime Partner

---

The recent Globe and Mail report highlighting Canada's search for new submarine maintenance facilities reveals an important reality: Canada's future submarine program is no longer simply a competition over platforms. The greater challenge lies in sustaining those submarines over decades while facing a severe shortage of skilled labour.

Canada's marine industry is already experiencing significant workforce constraints. Shipyards on both coasts are competing for a limited pool of welders, pipefitters, systems engineers, and other specialized tradespeople. As the report notes, maintaining a fleet of twelve next-generation submarines will require hundreds of highly trained personnel at each coastal facility. Under these circumstances, the question facing Ottawa is not merely which submarine performs best at sea, but which partner can help Canada build and sustain a modern submarine ecosystem.

This is where digital shipbuilding and advanced sustainment capabilities become increasingly important.

South Korea's shipbuilding industry has spent years integrating digital technologies into every stage of naval construction and maintenance. Smart shipyards, digital twins, predictive maintenance systems, and AI-enabled logistics networks are already being employed in Korean naval programs. These technologies are designed not simply to improve efficiency, but to maximize the effectiveness of a limited workforce.

For Canada, digital sustainment could help reduce pressure on an already constrained labour market. A maintenance system supported by predictive analytics and digital modelling can identify problems before failures occur, streamline maintenance schedules, and reduce unnecessary manpower requirements. In an environment where skilled workers are becoming one of the country's most valuable strategic resources, such efficiencies may prove just as important as the submarine itself.

Equally important is workforce development. Any successful submarine program will require the training of an entirely new generation of Canadian technicians, engineers, and maintainers. Partnerships with Canadian universities, technical institutions, and local industry should therefore be viewed as a strategic necessity rather than an optional industrial benefit. A supplier capable of transferring technology, establishing training programs, and supporting long-term human capital development offers Canada more than equipment—it offers enduring capability.

Ultimately, Canada's submarine decision will shape its naval posture for decades. The winning proposal should not only deliver capable boats, but also help Canada overcome its most pressing challenge: building the skilled workforce and digital infrastructure necessary to sustain them. In this regard, the future competition may not be decided solely by who builds the best submarine, but by who can become Canada's most effective long-term maritime partner.