The Liberal government reportedly plans to turn the Defence Investment Agency into a Crown corporation, formalizing an organizational model Ottawa was already using in one significant respect: how it pays the agency’s chief executive.
Doug Guzman, the former Royal Bank of Canada executive appointed to run the DIA, has an official salary range of $577,300 to $679,100. Government briefing material says that compensation was benchmarked against the guidelines for Group CEO 8 executives at Crown corporations.
That became an issue at a House defence committee hearing earlier this year. When Guzman said his position had been ranked using a grid for Crown corporation CEOs, Conservative MP James Bezan responded, “It’s not a Crown corporation yet.”
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It may soon be. CBC News reported Monday, citing two unnamed federal sources, that the Liberal government intends to convert the DIA into a Crown corporation.
The distinction matters because Ottawa had already announced plans to separate the DIA from Public Services and Procurement Canada. Canada’s February Defence Industrial Strategy said legislation would establish it as a stand-alone entity, while the Spring Economic Update allocated $103.8 million over five years, plus $22.3 million annually thereafter, to establish and operate it independently.
Bill C-31 followed on May 6, proposing a Defence Investment Agency overseen by a designated minister and granted that minister broad authority over defence production, procurement, and investment. The bill remains before a House committee.
The Crown corporation structure now being reported would therefore represent another institutional shift rather than the original creation of an independent DIA.
The agency already handles defence procurements valued at $100 million or more, and federal briefing documents said it would manage more than $60 billion in upcoming investments.
Crown status would not automatically eliminate government oversight. Most federal Crown corporations must submit corporate plans, operating budgets, and capital budgets for Treasury Board approval, while annual reports and plan summaries are tabled in Parliament.
