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Prairies Defense Readiness Workshop

Prairies Defense Readiness Workshop

Date: October 6, 2026

Location: DEFSEC Atlantic 2026, Halifax Convention Centre, 1650 Argyle St, Halifax, NS B3J 0E6

Time: 1300-1630

Price: CME Members: $15, Non-Members: $30 per person

Open to: Members & non Members

Registration link: https://defsecatlantic.ca/

Description:

Together with PrairiesCan, ACC, STEP, the Government of Manitoba, and BDC, join us for the Prairies Defence Readiness Workshop, an interactive session designed to help businesses enter the defence sector. Participants will gain practical insights into industry expectations, assess their organization’s current capabilities, and identify actionable steps to improve compliance, operational performance, and customer confidence. In addition, attendees will hear from experts on Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITBs) and BDC’s Defence Financing and Growth Support Programs, providing valuable insights into defence procurement opportunities, business growth strategies, and the resources available to help companies scale within the sector.

Why Attend?

  • Evaluate their organization’s current readiness and prioritize operational actions to strengthen visibility, accountability, competitiveness, and lifecycle control.
  • Learn how Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) can create opportunities within Canada’s defence supply chain.
  • Discover BDC programs and resources that support growth, investment, and market expansion.
  • Assess your organization’s current readiness and identify improvement priorities.
  • Strengthen operational readiness and supply chain competitiveness.
  • Network with industry peers, defence stakeholders, and subject matter experts.

What You'll Learn
 

This workshop helps participants reflect their current systems and strategic capabilities in Defence and Aerospace. Participants will gain practical insights into defence procurement opportunities, Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB), available financing and growth support programs, and the operational capabilities needed to compete within the defence supply chain. The workshop also provides a structured framework to assess current readiness, identify capability gaps, and prioritize improvement opportunities.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Identify current organization readiness base on Business Systems Maturity Assessment in aerospace and defence.
  • Understand Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) requirements and identify potential pathways to participate in defence procurement opportunities.
  • Apply the Defence & Aerospace Pre-Screening Tool to identify capability gaps and opportunities for continuous improvement.
  • Explore available financing, growth, and business development resources to support expansion into the defence sector.

Speakers:

Stephane Turbide, P.Eng., EMBA, is an operations executive and defence industry advisor with more than 30 years of leadership experience across aerospace, defence, advanced manufacturing, and industrial operations. As General Manager Operations at Pratt & Whitney, he led large-scale operations and transformation in a highly regulated environment. Now Principal Consultant at ST3P Consulting, he advises organizations on manufacturing strategy, operational excellence, governance, and resilience. Stephane brings a practical executive perspective to quality and traceability, showing how strong systems enhance compliance, reduce risk, improve operational performance, and strengthen customer confidence.

Guillaume Bedard is an entrepreneur, investor and senior business executive, with over 35 years of experience in the field of banking, venture capital, environmental science and engineering and Defence. Guillaume serves as a Senior Advisor BDC Defence for Western & Northern Canada. Guillaume led professional teams and developed strategic business plans to serve the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), the Department of National Defence (DND), Defence Construction Canada (DCC), and Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) across Canada, including the Canadian North. Guillaume served as Industry advisor for Canada to NATO for industrial Defence preparedness and supported business initiatives in Europe, Africa, Latin America, United States, Canada and China. 

Julian Ringuelet is a Senior Advisor in PrairiesCan’s ITB unit, based in Ottawa. He has been with the Government of Canada for three years; before joining PrairiesCan, Julian was part of the ITB team at the federal development agency for Quebec (CED-Q). Prior to government, and starting in 2016, Julian was a private sector consultant; among others, his clients included both prime defence contractors and Canadian beneficiaries of the ITB policy.”

For more information contact CME Vice President, Prairies Operations & Business Services, Brittany Scarrow.

Register here
Published on Sep 15, 2026