With global security and our world order increasingly at risk, financing has become a critical enabler of defence, resilience and economic security.
That is the logic behind the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), a proposed multilateral lender being developed with support from both Canadian and global financial institutions. And the logical home for this new bank is in Canada’s global financial centre: Toronto.
The stakes are high. Allied democracies are being pushed to modernize at speeds rarely seen in peacetime procurement cycles. We need to harden critical infrastructure, counter cyber threats and rebuild dangerously thin security supply chains. From drones to undersea cables, the capabilities we need come from innovative companies around the globe. Our challenge is not ambition or expertise; it is ensuring capital can move at speed and scale, with the confidence of markets.
The goal is an institution with AAA credibility that can mobilize sovereign and private capital for defence production, cyber resilience and the protection of critical infrastructure. The DSRB would be a capital-markets-facing institution, designed to unlock private investment and accelerate industrial capacity in allied economies.
Canada should be the international home of the DSRB, and success means approaching this as a global competition, not a domestic one. Launching a bank requires building a platform that earns confidence quickly, and scales without hiccups.
That starts with locating the institution where Canada’s financial system is most concentrated, connected and credible. The strongest Canadian offer is a headquarters anchored in Toronto, where we have the scale and connectivity to support a global institution from Day 1.
Here’s why: Toronto is Canada’s financial command centre and North America’s second-largest financial-services hub by employment. It concentrates the Big Five banks, major pension funds, asset managers and investment funds, the Toronto Stock Exchange and the dense ecosystem of legal, regulatory, underwriting and risk expertise that sophisticated global finance requires.
Whether the institution issues bonds, structures guarantees, syndicates loans or co-finances with private partners, it will need daily proximity to investors, underwriters, risk specialists and regulators. And Canada’s stable, rules-based environment adds the kind of predictability required of any credible lending institution at scale.
Locating the DSRB in Toronto would allow its leadership and core financial functions to operate within Canada’s deepest capital markets, reinforcing credibility with investors and partner governments.
Toronto’s connectivity, anchored by Pearson airport’s direct links to major financial and political centres, would mean easy access to governments, investors, ratings agencies and counterpart banks. Connectivity isn’t a perk. It’s an operational necessity.
A Toronto headquarters would not make this a Toronto institution. It would make it a Canadian one, anchored where the financial system is deepest and most connected. Integrating Canada more fully in the defence of democratic nations will strengthen the position of specialized hubs across the country — building on the world-class depth of Montreal in aerospace, Ottawa in defence and security policy, Halifax in maritime resilience, Calgary in energy and critical infrastructure, and Vancouver in Indo-Pacific engagement and cyber.
A Toronto-based headquarters would naturally strengthen and accelerate activity across Canada’s defence, security and industrial ecosystem. Partners won’t judge Canada by a street address so much as by whether the bank is plugged into real capability, real pipeline and constant cross-border engagement.
The real choice facing Canada is not about which city to put forward. It’s between competing globally or falling behind. Global institutions of this scale are headquartered in global financial centres. For Canada, that means Toronto.
This is the approach that provides the best odds of helping Canadian firms and workers across the country participate in growing defence and security supply chains.
To win, Canada needs to move quickly and speak with one voice. Other countries are already positioning, and the DSRB’s designers are looking for a host that can offer both political support and market credibility. That means Ottawa, Queen’s Park and city hall backing a Toronto HQ bid, committing to the practicalities, from security and diplomatic services to pathways for global talent, and inviting Canada’s other regions in as partners, not rivals.
Let’s present one clear offer — one that promises financial scale, credibility and connectivity. The DSRB belongs in Canada. And it belongs in Toronto.
Stephen Lund is president and CEO of Toronto Global. Giles Gershon is president and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade. Daniel Tisch is president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.