Archive | GovCon Weekly

Europe's Drone Buildout Has Real Champions. And Some Imaginary Price Tags.

The money to buy military drones is big and climbing fast: €4.8B and counting across eighteen markets. Follow it and two things jump out. Europe is building its own champions, not just importing them, and the two largest contracts on the board are framework ceilings, not cheques. Here is who is winning, what they are selling, and how to read the numbers.

Weekly

Sep 23, 2026

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4 min read

Buying Security by Name

Cybersecurity was the through-line this week, from the House of Commons to a Saskatchewan city, and buyers are asking for it by brand. Plus: winter is coming, and the plows are already out to tender.

Joe Noss

Concrete and Cable: Ottawa Buys the Essentials

Sep 17, 2026

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8 min read

Concrete and Cable: Ottawa Buys the Essentials

In an age of spending restraint, two very different departments spent the week buying the same kind of thing: critical infrastructure.

Joe Noss

The Week Canada Went Shopping for Robots

Sep 1, 2026

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6 min read

The Week Canada Went Shopping for Robots

Nine uncrewed-systems tenders in seven days, from the military to a city police force, plus the IT and defence work worth reading this week.

Joe Noss

Buy Canadian, at the Loading Dock: The Municipal 78%

Aug 27, 2026

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7 min read

Buy Canadian, at the Loading Dock: The Municipal 78%

Ontario's Municipalities Already Spend 78 Cents on the Dollar at Home, and the Foreign Share Hides in Plain Sight Ontario's.

Joe Noss

It's not in your head: the federal slowdown in postings is real

Aug 18, 2026

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7 min read

It's not in your head: the federal slowdown in postings is real

We track what the two biggest buyers, SSC and PSPC, are still tendering after a drop in consulting

Joe Noss

Aug 11, 2026

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8 min read

The Rearmament, at the Part Level

National Defence Is Buying Faster Every Quarter, and Fisheries Just Lost Its Fleet

Joe Noss

The $2.7 Billion Arctic: Canada's Biggest Space Bet Leads a Heavy Week

Aug 6, 2026

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8 min read

The $2.7 Billion Arctic: Canada's Biggest Space Bet Leads a Heavy Week

Telesat's Arctic satcom award, a $5.7B subway package, and a quiet Treasury Board push to unbundle contracts for small business.

Joe Noss

An A+ You Can't Audit: $350 Billion in Procurement, Mostly in the Dark

Jul 28, 2026

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10 min read

An A+ You Can't Audit: $350 Billion in Procurement, Mostly in the Dark

Canada gave itself top marks on internal trade. But only four of fourteen governments will show you who won their contracts, and the opacity has a price.

Joe Noss