Minister Champagne visits CAF members in Winnipeg, provides update on defence spending
Posted May 4, 2026 4:49 pm.
The federal finance minister was in Winnipeg on Thursday, visiting 17 Wing to speak to members of the Canadian Armed Forces and highlight federal investments in the defence sector announced during the spring economic update.
While in Winnipeg, Minister François-Philippe Champagne took time to speak to CAF members and take a tour of the facilities. He touched on the proposed $103.8 million over five years, starting this year, and $22.3 million ongoing to establish and operate the Defence Investment Agency, which is at the centre of the Defence Industrial Strategy, launched in February.
“We need to start building here, we need to start innovating this country, we need to make sure that small and medium-sized businesses here in Winnipeg and Manitoba and beyond, I remember your mayor just called it the sky economy, I love it,” said Minister Champagne.
The finance minister also highlighted roughly $6 billion to recruit, train, and hire 80,000–100,000 Red Seal trades workers nationwide.
“I can think of hangers, I think we may need expansion commander, you told me, I think about housing, I think about the kind of things we’re going to need. But in order to do that, we need men and women in uniform, but we also need the red seals to build us stuff, the neighbours, the colleagues that want to get into trades,” said Champagne.
The spring update proposes $2 billion over three years on a cash basis to support Operation UNIFIER, which has enabled the CAF to train over 47,000 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, covering a range of basic and advanced military skills.
“I meet their finance minister quite regularly, and I think they understand that we stand shoulder to shoulder with them. They are going through extraordinary times; it’s quite phenomenal what they have taught each and every one of us about resilience, about service, about fighting for what you believe,” said Minister Champagne.
