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      Canada’s defence enterprise is entering a period of unprecedented scale, complexity, and scrutiny. Geopolitical instability, evolving threats, and rapid technological change are increasing pressure on the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to deliver capability faster, more efficiently, and at scale.

      KPMG’s Defence and Security practice supports senior leaders across DND/CAF to navigate these challenges, helping turn policy ambition into executable, resilient outcomes.

      Find out how KPMG's expertise can help you and your company
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      How we can help

      The challenge: “Defence priorities can become hampered by institutional complexity.”

      KPMG provides strategy-focused advisory support to help DND leaders interpret, shape, and sequence defence strategy, particularly where decisions span policy, procurement, finance, and risk. We focus on making strategy actionable and coherent across the enterprise before execution begins.

      How it works

      KPMG acts as an independent system navigator, supporting leaders without taking on program ownership, vendor roles, or decision authority. We help bring clarity to complex, cross-cutting issues by:

      • Navigating decisions: Clarifying trade-offs, dependencies, and decision pathways for senior leaders
      • Aligning the system: Stress-testing priorities against institutional, industrial, and delivery realities
      • Supporting executives: Providing neutral, trusted advice to inform Deputy Minister / Assistant Deputy Minister-level discussions and decisions
      Value delivered
      • Stronger strategy clarity and alignment across policy, procurement, and risk
      • Reduced downstream friction
      • Greater confidence that strategy is coherent, sequenced, and executable at scale

      The challenge: “Procurement, risk, and delivery can be better integrated at the enterprise level.”

      We align procurement strategy, delivery models, and risk management upfront, so programs are set up to succeed before contracts are signed.

      How it works

      KPMG focuses on improving system performance, without rewriting rules or taking on procurement execution. We work with leaders to strengthen how procurement, risk, and delivery come together by:

      • Aligning procurement and delivery: Ensuring sourcing strategies reflect delivery models and industrial capacity
      • Integrating risk early: Making risk an explicit design input, not a downstream compliance exercise
      • Taking a portfolio view: Helping leaders understand and manage cumulative risk across programs
      Value delivered
      • Reduced cost overruns and schedule slippage
      • Procurement aligned with delivery realities
      • Improved outcomes across complex programs at scale

      The challenge: “Lacking an independent system-level advisor to help us navigate trade-offs.”

      We provide independent advisory to support leaders in operationalizing strategy, turning policy and procurement intent into executable delivery. We help translate strategy into programs, plans and actions by  identifying risks early, assessing readiness, and strengthening execution pathways.

      How it works

      KPMG supports delivery without taking on delivery ownership, working alongside leaders to anticipate risks and strengthen execution. We do this by:

      • Assessing delivery readiness: Determining whether programs are truly ready to move forward
      • Stress-testing execution: Identifying pressure points early (capacity, approvals, sequencing)
      • Advising leadership: Providing ongoing, trusted guidance as delivery conditions evolve
      Value delivered
      • Clearer translation from strategy and procurement intent into delivery
      • Fewer late-stage surprises
      • Stronger delivery confidence and operational readiness

      The challenge: “Leaders lack a coherent, real-time decision-grade view of the information environment.”

      Geopolitical volatility, international mis and disinformation, and rapidly evolving public signals increasingly shape public opinion, defence and political decisions. Yet leaders often lack a trusted way to translate open-source information into actionable insights in real-time.

      How it works

      KPMG provides managed, real-time, advisory-led analysis of the open information environment as an independent and secure insight partner. We support leaders by:

      • Monitoring geopolitical, economic, and local narrative signals relevant to “whole-of-society” defence, national interest, and public safety priorities
      • Translating open-source data into structured, executive-ready risk and insight products leveraging modern OSINT analytical platforms that operate in real time
      • Providing neutral, defensible analysis to inform senior-level decision-making
      Value delivered
      • Improved situational awareness without reliance on classified intelligence
      • Earlier visibility into emerging geopolitical, defence and public safety risks
      • Timely, prioritized and actionable input to strategic, tactical and policy decisions

      The challenge: “Leaders lack confidence that critical data is trusted, governed, and usable across the full data lifecycle.”

      As organizations rely more heavily on AI and, therefore, on the full spectrum of their data and documents, fragmented governance, inconsistent quality, and unclear accountability undermine decision-making, compliance, and value realization. Trusted data must be deliberately governed from collection through disposal to enable reliable insights, operational resilience, and ethical use.

      How it works

      KPMG helps organizations establish trusted data as an enterprise enabler, aligning governance, operating models, and lifecycle controls. We support leaders by:

      • Designing pragmatic data governance structures, policies, and decision rights
      • Embedding quality, privacy, and ethics across the end-to-end data lifecycle
      • Configuring data management practices and solutions to deliver the desired business value and organizational outcomes
      Value delivered
      • Increased confidence in data used for decisions and analytics
      • Stronger compliance, resilience, and risk management
      • Faster time-to-value from data and AI investments

      Driving improved defence outcomes at scale

      Together, these services help DND make better decisions earlier, and carry them through to delivery with fewer surprises.

      Business outcomes
      • Reduced execution risk across major initiatives by addressing challenge spaces before it drives negative downstream outcomes
      • Better equipped and enabled senior leaders to successfully navigate challenges  across policy, procurement, risk, and delivery
      Tangible impact
      • Shorter cycle time from strategy to implementation
      • Fewer program resets due to challenges navigating between intent, procurement, and delivery reality
      • Lower likelihood of cost growth, schedule slippage, and contracting issues
      • Earlier visibility into delivery constraints, industrial capacity limits, and risk trade-offs
      The real 'so-what?'
      • DND leadership gains a trusted, independent advisor to help navigate complexity without adding another delivery layer or ownership ambiguity
      • Procurement and delivery decisions are designed to work together, rather than reconciled after issues emerge
      • Senior leaders stay ahead of risk, rather than managing escalation once options have narrowed
      Bottom line

      These KPMG services help DND turn policy ambition and funding into durable, executable defence outcomes, by improving how decisions are made, how systems are aligned, and how delivery risk is managed across the enterprise.

      Why KPMG?

      • Deep, practical defence experience

        We bring hands-on experience across procurement, finance, real property, cyber, and major program delivery—grounded in how defence actually operates across silos, constraints, and competing priorities.

      • Independent, system-level perspective

        We act as a neutral advisor across policy, procurement, risk, and delivery—helping leaders navigate trade-offs in a system where no single organization owns the full picture.

      • Global insight, Canadian realism

        We combine global defence experience with a deep understanding of Canada’s institutional and industrial context.

      Canada’s defence environment is evolving rapidly. Delivering on priorities will depend on how effectively institutions align strategy, procurement, risk, and execution.

      KPMG is ready to support DND/CAF as a trusted, independent advisor to navigate complexity and deliver results.

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      Dan Doran
      Dan Doran

      Executive Director & National Lead, Defence and Security—strategy, delivery, partnerships

      Toronto

      KPMG Canada

      Ven Adamov
      Ven Adamov

      Partner, National Leader, Data & Analytics Risk Services

      Oakville

      KPMG Canada