Canadians Chosen by 19 Countries for Defence Bank Host

canadians got a clear signal on Wednesday: 19 member countries unanimously chose Canada to host the proposed Defence, Security and Resilience Bank. The decision came after the third round of negotiations on the bank’s structure wrapped up in Montreal.

The source said Canada will definitely be the host if the bank goes ahead. There is still a lot of work to do before the bank proceeds, and the host city has not yet been decided.

Montreal talks and Canada’s bid

The Montreal meeting closed a round of talks that had been building toward a host-country decision. In December, Premier Doug Ford and Mayor Olivia Chow made a joint bid for Toronto, while Montreal and Vancouver also expressed interest.

The choice puts Canada in line to house a proposed institution designed to mobilize low-cost capital for defence, security and resilience investments for NATO members and allied nations. The bank would be owned exclusively by up to 40 nation-states.

Backers across finance and government

Support for the bank includes all of Canada’s Big Six banks, along with Deutsche Bank and J.P Morgan. David Perry, head of the think tank Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said the result reflects a shift in how other partners view Canada on defence issues.

“I think it shows that Mr. Carney’s gone a long way to restore Canadian standing and confidence amongst other partners and allies on defence issues,” Perry said. He added: “I think it would have been extremely unlikely for this initiative to land with Canadian leadership two years ago.”

What comes next for the bank

The source cautioned that the bank may not ultimately happen, even with Canada chosen as host in principle. If the plan advances, the next decision will be where the bank is located inside Canada, with Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver already in the mix.