Canada's Defense Bank Plan
Canada aims to announce about 10 founding member countries at the NATO summit to be held next week in Türkiye. Isabelle Hudon, Canada's chief negotiator in this multilateral initiative and CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada, said in an interview with Reuters: "We set the NATO summit as a deadline for ourselves... Our goal is to announce the list of founding members."
The Defense, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), backed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, is part of a call for a "middle powers" alliance. Carney launched the initiative arguing that the traditional US-led world order is fragmenting.
The bank aims to strengthen allied defense by providing up to 100 billion pounds ($133 billion) in low-cost financing. Hudon said the initial membership list would consist entirely of European countries apart from Canada, but declined to name them.
Final Decision Uncertain Until Summit
Hudon noted that the announcement is not final and depends on last negotiations with allies, particularly requiring agreement on capital commitments, but said the project is gaining momentum.
Hudon said: "Our prime minister's instruction was to launch without waiting for perfection and to gather ready countries as founding members. Membership will remain open afterwards."
South Korea's Participation Uncertain
The support of countries critical for the bank to obtain a triple-A credit rating remains unclear. Hudon said there have been productive talks with South Korea, describing the likelihood of its participation as "fifty-fifty" and that it could happen later. For now, none of the other G7 countries are close to participation.
Canada's Ministry of Finance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
