{"id":6356,"date":"2026-08-11T17:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/6356\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T17:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:50:11","slug":"national-bank-pushes-deeper-into-defence-financing-hires-retired-general-rick-hillier-as-strategic-advisor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/6356\/","title":{"rendered":"National Bank pushes deeper into defence financing, hires retired general Rick Hillier as strategic advisor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Retired general Rick Hillier speaks at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020.Tijana Martin\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

National Bank of Canada has tapped a former top general who led the country\u2019s combat mission in Afghanistan as a strategic defence advisor, the latest move as Canada\u2019s largest lenders look to expand into financing the long-neglected sector. <\/p>\n

Retired General Rick Hillier will assist with National Bank\u2019s efforts to grow its client base in the defence and security industry, as well as dual-use companies.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s banks have been looking to boost financing and services for the defence sector, but face roadblocks<\/a> as companies navigate hurdles with compliance procedures and securing contracts. <\/p>\n

Mr. Hillier will advise on trends in the defence sector and provide insights on issues affecting Canada\u2019s resilience, security, advanced manufacturing, aerospace and the defence industrial base, the bank said in a release Tuesday. <\/p>\n

He served for more than 35 years in the Canadian Armed Forces and was appointed as chief of the defence staff from 2005 to 2008. During his time in the military, Mr. Hillier led major domestic and international operations, including NATO missions. <\/p>\n

In 2008, Toronto-Dominion Bank hired Mr. Hillier on a part-time to give talks to employees and customers about his experience abroad with the military. <\/p>\n

Since retiring from military service, he has advised on public initiatives, including Ontario\u2019s COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force in 2020. He recently served on the board of the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis perspective will be invaluable as we continue to support our clients and navigate a rapidly evolving environment,\u201d National Bank CEO Laurent Ferreira said in a statement. <\/p>\n

As defence companies sort through barriers to securing financing from banks, the challenges threaten to slow Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s plans to rapidly expand Canada\u2019s defence capabilities. Ottawa has pegged more than $84-billion in defence spending over five years in a bid to reduce Canada\u2019s dependence on the United States for protection. <\/p>\n

Last year, National Bank identified companies doing work related to defence, in particular among smaller defence companies with significant growth potential, according to a source familiar with the matter. The bank reassessed how it reviews those types of businesses and how it can or cannot finance Canadian business related to defence in an effort to boost its support for the sector.<\/p>\n

The Globe is not identifying the source as they are not authorized to speak about the matter publicly. <\/p>\n

The banking sector has typically shied away from defence financing, which is a complicated process. Canada\u2019s largest lenders must comply with strict regulatory requirements on the amount of risk they are exposed to in their client portfolios. <\/p>\n

The defence sector has faced reputational concerns in recent decades, with banks deterred by the criticism that comes with investing in or financing businesses linked to military weapons and equipment. That stigma is easing as geopolitical tensions rise and governments boost their defence budgets. <\/p>\n

Banks also often require that defence companies secure procurement contracts before they are willing to lend \u2013 especially to smaller businesses with uncertain revenue streams and nascent compliance programs. <\/p>\n

European banks were among the first movers to ramp up their defence practices. Last year, Germany\u2019s Deutsche Bank AG created a team focused on deals in defence and infrastructure. Meanwhile, U.S. banks have long been entrenched in the country\u2019s expansive defence sector. <\/p>\n

In May, Canada\u2019s Defence Minister David McGuinty appealed to a room of financial institutions<\/a>, entrepreneurs and investors that defence companies are ready to scale advanced manufacturing and compete globally, but they cannot achieve those ambitions without capital. <\/p>\n

He said the federal government is working to remove \u201cblockages\u201d to financing defence companies, including export approvals and security clearances. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ll be really blunt,\u201d Mr. McGuinty said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have any choice. We need to move forward now. We need to look out for ourselves. We need to step it up domestically.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Retired general Rick Hillier speaks at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Friday, Dec.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1601,1590,1602,227,1580,1603,192,1579,1595,1596,1593,1581,1578,14,168,638,170,46,1588,1614,1582,1583,239,1591,1592,1585,1604,1586,1609,1610,1612,1607,1611,1605,1608,1584,1598,1599,55,1597,1606,1589,596,1600,1594,1587,224,1613],"class_list":["post-6356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-defence-industry","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}