The competition to host the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank entered a new phase this week as Canada welcomed representatives from 18 nations to Montréal for the first formal round of charter negotiations — a development that positions the country closer to landing the institution it has been lobbying hardest to attract.
As previously reported, a host country decision was anticipated for late March. While no announcement has been made, Canada’s selection as the negotiations venue — and its role as the dominant banking backer — signals it remains the frontrunner.
The talks, which Canada’s federal government is hosting from March 23 to 26, opened the first of three negotiating rounds — with delegates working through the bank’s charter, governance framework, headquarters selection, and executive leadership. The process is scheduled to wrap by the end of April.
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The DSRB would operate as a multilateral lender owned by member states, extending subsidized loans to governments and defence firms for procurement and supply chain investment — at rates below what commercial markets typically offer.
Commercial banks would handle direct lending to defence firms at subsidized rates — addressing how defence contractors have historically struggled to access financing from traditional institutions.
Canada’s financial sector has fully consolidated behind the initiative. All six of the country’s major banks — RBC, TD, CIBC, Scotiabank, National Bank, and BMO — have signed on as institutional partners, accounting for half of the 12 international banks now backing the project.
The remaining six are JPMorgan Chase, ING Group, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, and Natixis. BMO was the last of the Big Six to confirm its support, completing the roster in February.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has made the bank a personal priority, putting it on the agenda in leadership-level meetings with counterparts across allied nations this year. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne described Canada as “committed to advancing the DSRB and by extension strengthening partners’ resilience in a shifting geopolitical landscape.”
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Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand added that the initiative would “mobilize capital at scale, accelerate defence production, and strengthen collective security.”
Canada tapped Isabelle Hudon, chief executive of the Business Development Bank of Canada, as its lead negotiator for the charter process. The bank’s development group traces back to Rob Murray — a former senior NATO official who built the Alliance’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic and its Innovation Fund — who now leads the DSRB’s development group as CEO.
The headquarters race among Canadian cities remains open. Vancouver, Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa, and Halifax are all still competing for the institution and the estimated 3,500 jobs it would bring. No host city announcement is expected before year-end.
The bank is structured around two tiers of member contributions: paid-in capital upon joining and callable capital held in reserve as a crisis backstop — an arrangement designed to secure the institution with an AAA credit rating. In its final form, the DSRB could include up to 40 member nations, all NATO members or allied countries.
Canada expects to clear NATO’s 2% of GDP defence spending benchmark in the current fiscal year and has pledged to reach the Alliance’s more ambitious 5% target by 2035.
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