Canadian Seapower

Canadian Seapower brings together some of Canada’s leading practitioners and scholars to examine how the country must rethink, rebuild, and employ its maritime power to defend its sovereignty, secure its three oceans, protect its global interests, and navigate an increasingly dangerous and uncertain world.

Canada is entering a period of maritime transformation. After decades of limited investment and declining capacity, the country is rebuilding its Navy, Coast Guard, and shipbuilding industry. All this is in response to a strategic environment that has become more complex and dangerous than ever before. Canadian Seapower examines this new dynamic and asks what it means for Canada’s future as a maritime state.

Bringing together scholars, serving and retired practitioners, and experts from government, industry, and think tanks, this volume approaches seapower holistically. Contributors examine the interconnected foundations of maritime power, from strategy, force structure, and maritime domain awareness to industrial capacity, technology, and personnel. This survey of Canada’s unprecedented maritime recapitalization shows the need of a sustained shipbuilding and industrial capacity, new approaches to recruitment and training and faster adoption of autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and other emerging capabilities. The volume also highlights the growing importance of the Arctic, submarines, maritime domain awareness, as well as the newly critical role of the Coast Guard in national security.

At a moment when Canada is making decisions that will shape its maritime capabilities for decades, Canadian Seapower provides a multidisciplinary framework for understanding the opportunities, constraints, and choices that will determine the country’s ability to defend its sovereignty and protect its interests at sea.

With contributions by: Kristen Censky, Andrea Charron, Tim Choi, Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, Nicholas Glesby, Mai Guo, Chris Henderson, Rob Huebert, Thomas Hughes, Norman Jolin, Adam Lajeunesse, Alexander Salt, Brian Santarpia, Richard Shimooka, Elinor Sloan, and Kate Todd

Adam Lajeunesse is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Governance at St. Francis Xavier University, where he also holds a Research Chair in Arctic and Marine Security. He is the author of the award-winning Lock, Stock, and Icebergs and co-author of China’s Arctic Ambitions and What They Mean for Canada.

Forward
Vice Admiral Angus Topshee

Introduction
Adam Lajeunesse

Canadian Naval Strategy: Fit for Purpose in a Multipolar World
Brian Santarpia

Fighting at Sea: Maritime Warfare and the Challenge of Sustained Conflict in an Era of Great-Power Competition
Rob Huebert

Seapower for the North American Arctic
Adam Lajeunesse

Rethinking Arctic Logistics: The Arctic Mobile Base Concept
Adam Lajeunesse

Preparing the RCN’s HR Framework for Maritime Autonomous System Adoption
Kate E. Todd

Canada, Maritime Domain Awareness, and Key Future Questions
Nicholas Glesby, Thomas Hughes, and Andrea Charron

Naval Shipbuilding: Lessons from Down Under, 2015 to 2025
Elinor Sloan

The Case for a Twenty-First Century Canadian Merchant Navy
Jeffrey Collins

Reference Hull Designs: Evaluating Canada’s Shipbuilding Approach
Richard Shimooka

Seapower in the Quantum Age
Kristen Csenky

Personnel, Readiness, and Culture in the Royal Canadian Navy: A Sinking Ship?
Charlotte Duval-Lantoine

AI, Autonomy, and the RCN’s Uncertain Transformation
Alexander Salt

Harbouring Talent: Recruitment and Retention of Technicians in the RCN
Lieutenant-Commander Mai Guo

The Canadian Coast Guard and Maritime Security
Chris Henderson

Canada’s Submarine Requirements
Norman Jolin