German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius championed Germany's defence industry during a visit to Ottawa on Wednesday, as he tried to persuade Canada to place a major order for German submarines.
"We want to work side by side to ensure security in the North Atlantic, the Far North and, yes, the Arctic too," the minister said during a visit to Canada's top defence and security event, the CANSEC trade show.
"This is about a strategic partnership with Canada," he said.
Berlin wants Canada to order submarines from German manufacturer TKMS as part of a joint submarine project with Norway, but it is facing competition from South Korea.
Canada, Germany and Norway could share and jointly utilize the expertise of German submarine builders, infrastructure and experience, Pistorius said. "Together, we can build the world’s largest and most modern conventional submarine fleet. That would be a real asset for NATO as well."
An order of 12 submarines could create thousands of jobs and secure them for the long term, he continued. "We estimate an economic benefit in the hundreds of billions for Canada alone," Pistorius told his hosts.
Canada would then also have submarines that are "state of the art" and "practically undetectable in operation," the defence minister said, boasting that there is nothing comparable among conventional submarines.
During his trip, Pistorius also met his Canadian counterpart David McGuinty and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for talks on security and arms cooperation, support for Ukraine and the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara.
At CANSEC, Carney said a decision on the purchase of the submarines would be made by the end of June.
The Canadian prime minister also said his country had entered into negotiations to acquire GlobalEye reconnaissance aircraft from the Swedish firm Saab, which Germany is also considering.
NATO allies have said they intend to procure more common weapons systems to improve interoperability.
Germany, Canada and Norway entered into a maritime security partnership in July 2024 that also covers arms cooperation. Denmark has since also joined the alliance.
Unlike previous visits to Canada, Pistorius will not travel on to the United States for talks in Washington.
The German Defence Ministry noted that US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is currently attending the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Asia. A visit to the US by Pistorius is scheduled to take place at a later date.
German-US relations have been strained recently by Chancellor Friedrich Merz's blunt criticism of the war in Iran, which triggered a strong broadside from President Donald Trump as well as a Pentagon announcement that it would withdraw thousands of US troops stationed in Germany.
