Overview
- Federal disclosure records show Shared Services Canada signed a communications and network services deal with SpaceX Canada that started on October 24, 2023 and has been amended repeatedly to about C$28,941,731 with a current end date of March 31, 2027.
- Most of the contract's growth occurred in early 2026 when a January–March amendment added roughly C$17.22 million, producing the largest single jump in the total value.
- The procurement was awarded through an advance contract award notice after a single bid and cites limited-tendering exceptions, including that no other suppliers responded and that only one vendor was capable of performing the work.
- Prime Minister Mark Carney has said the government will diversify away from Elon Musk's Starlink and Ottawa has committed more than C$5 billion in loans and contracts to Telesat's Lightspeed, which has no satellites in orbit and faces major debt pressures.
- The contrast between federal reliance on SpaceX and provincial moves such as Ontario's cancellation of a C$100 million Starlink deal in March 2025 raises questions about procurement transparency, defence resilience, and how long Canada will depend on a foreign-controlled network before a domestic option is operational.