Canada Just Turned a Submarine Deal Into a Jobs War... And Everybody Wants In
Germany and South Korea aren’t asking for charity. They’re lining up with cheque books and factories. That’s what real leverage looks like.
For years, Canada shopped like a polite tourist.
Walk in.
Pay full price.
Say thank you.
Ship the jobs somewhere else.
Not anymore.
Now we’ve got two foreign defence giants basically standing on our porch saying…
“Pick us. We’ll build here.”
And honestly?
That’s the most Canadian power move I’ve seen in years.
Here’s what’s actually happening.
Canada is replacing its aging Victoria-class submarines.
Big contract.
Serious money.
We’re talking $20–24 billion worth of work.
Not pocket change.
Not “symbolic investment.”
Real, factory-floor, steel-cutting money.
Two bidders are fighting for it…
• Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (Germany)
• Hanwha Ocean (South Korea)
And here’s the part that matters…
Neither one is saying,
“Thanks, we’ll build everything at home and ship it to you.”
They’re saying…
“Let us build it in Canada.”
Germany’s play…
They’ve already signed an agreement with a Vancouver shipyard to set up maintenance and repair facilities here.
Meaning…
Canadian workers
Canadian paycheques
Canadian expertise staying here long-term
Not just delivery… ownership of the work.
South Korea’s counterpunch…
They’re going even harder.
They’ve pledged $270 million to build a new structural steel beam mill in Ontario.
That’s not a service desk.
That’s heavy industry.
The kind that anchors towns and feeds families for decades.
Especially meaningful since Ontario steel has taken hits from U.S. tariffs.
So this isn’t just defence spending.
It’s economic rehab.
Why are they suddenly so generous?
Because Canada finally grew a spine.
A new Buy Canadian procurement policy kicks in December 2025.
It forces federal contracts to prioritize…
• Canadian suppliers
• Canadian steel
• Canadian aluminum
• Canadian wood
• Canadian jobs
In plain English…
If you want our money… build here.
Funny how fast companies learn to say “eh” when billions are on the table.
Compare that to the old way…
For decades we defaulted to U.S. defence contracts.
Buy it there.
Maintain it there.
Depend on them forever.
And sometimes get treated like an afterthought.
Or worse… a hostage.
(Yeah, the whole “we control the software and maintenance” thing should make anyone nervous.)
Why would you buy gear someone else can switch off?
That’s not sovereignty.
That’s renting your own house.
This is the shift
This isn’t about submarines.
It’s about leverage.
When countries compete to invest in you, you’re doing something right.
When they fight to build factories on your soil?
That’s respect.
And no matter who wins… Germany or South Korea… Canada wins.
Because either way…
The steel is ours.
The jobs are ours.
The skills are ours.
That’s how you build a country.
Not with speeches.
With welders.
Bottom line…
Turns out we don’t need love letters from politicians down south.
We need purchase orders from partners who actually show up with tools.
And right now?
Two of them are knocking.
Cheque books open.
The Recap…
Canada didn’t beg for this deal.
We changed the rules… and now Germany and South Korea are fighting to build here.
$20+ billion. Canadian steel. Canadian jobs.
This is what leverage looks like.
Full story inside.
Punchy line
Respect isn’t words. Respect is factories.
Source credit
Based on reporting from CBC and Reuters coverage of Canada’s submarine procurement bids.
Canada Strong Movement… House Rule & Disclosure
Canada Strong exists to defend Canadian sovereignty, democratic norms, and economic independence… without imported talking points or borrowed outrage.
House rule… Facts and good-faith discussion are welcome. I use AI tools to help turn my spoken drafts into clear writing. I’m 73, my hands shake, and I type with two fingers… so I speak first, then edit.
The ideas, positions, and final message are mine.
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Love this, I had a feeling a few months back, with talk of military expansion we would end up getting new subs. Canada is stepping into it's independence and I love it.
So, has Kegsbreath(hic!) figured this out yet? Has Trump had a tantrum about Canada building subs and not giving the US its fair share (you know, like the Gordie Howe Bridge)? Or is my country's administration so stupid that they don't understand that somebody else building Canada's subs means that many Americans not getting those jobs? Or maybe the news just hasn't reached them yet because their mental bandwidth is totally occupied with the Epstein files.