# PM Mark Carney pledged to ‘Buy Canadian.’ Since then, $7.8 billion in contracts went to American corporations **By:** Frédérik Plante **Published:** 2026-10-05T05:00:00-04:00 **Source:** [Toronto Star](https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/pm-mark-carney-pledged-to-buy-canadian-since-then-7-8-billion-in-contracts-went-to-american-corporations/article_c0a46948-956b-42cd-9cb0-c6a2d8e0e4be.html) --- Close Prime Minister Mark Carney visited General Dynamics in London, Ont., in July. The U.S.-based company is one of the largest beneficiaries of the billions worth of contracts that flowed south since he took office. NEO THE CANADIAN PRESS Facebook Twitter WhatsApp LinkedIn SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Prime Minister Mark Carney visited General Dynamics in London, Ont., in July. The U.S.-based company is one of the largest beneficiaries of the billions worth of contracts that flowed south since he took office. Since assuming office a year and a half ago, Prime Minister Mark Carney has repeatedly promised that his government would “build Canadian and buy Canadian.” But American-controlled multinational corporations have dominated the most lucrative federal contracts under Carney’s leadership, a Toronto Star analysis of government data shows. The share of government contract dollars going to U.S. companies also increased. Since Carney was sworn in as Prime Minister in March 2025 and up to the end of July 2026 — the latest available data — Ottawa awarded $25 billion in contracts to buy everything from cloud services to military vehicles and office furniture. The vast majority of it, $22.4 billion, went to Canadian companies, according to federal contract data. United States businesses come at a distant second place, with nearly $1.2 billion. But that’s not the full picture; procurement data does not distinguish between a homegrown shop and the locally-incorporated subsidiary of an American corporation. This is how well-known U.S. brands such as defence contractor Lockheed Martin or tech giant Amazon, which has received about $49 million in contracts under Carney, sometimes show up in procurement data as Canadian companies. How to gauge ‘foreign control’ of economy The Star cross-referenced procurement data with another federal data set, the Inter-corporate Ownership (ICO) review’s index, which includes information on more than 50,000 companies and their “country of control” — where the people controlling the firm live. That metric is used to measure “the extent and impact of foreign control within the Canadian economy,” according to the ICO review, which reports on its findings to Parliament. The Star also reviewed reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, company websites and other public records to confirm American ties among some of Ottawa’s largest contractors. Where there was no ICO match for smaller contractors, the Star used procurement data to establish an organization’s country. The results show that while Carney has promised to uphold Canadian sovereignty and make the country’s economy less dependent on the U.S., his government has been reliant on its businesses. They also illustrate the limits of Ottawa’s Buy Canadian Policy, which went into effect in December to give “priority to Canadian businesses and Canadian-made content for large federal purchases.” In its first 16 months in power, the Carney government gave an estimated $7.8 billion in federal contracts to American-controlled corporations. Contracts with Canadian companies over the same period amounted to $14.9 billion. Public Services and Procurement Canada did not answer the Star’s questions on the proportion of contract dollars going to U.S.-controlled companies. Spokesperson Jean-François Létourneau said that the government “continues to take action to increase domestic participation, strengthen Canadian supply chains, and support Canadian workers, businesses, and communities.” He said that since December, 34 contracts worth $1.5 billion have been awarded under the Buy Canadian Policy. The Prime Minister’s office declined to comment. Is ‘Buy Canadian’ a failed promise? The share of federal contract dollars heading south went from one-fifth in the 16 months before Carney took office to nearly a third under his watch. Carney government excludes U.S. bidders from $4.9B army vehicle contract Carney government excludes U.S. bidders from $4.9B army vehicle contract Canada’s secretary of state for defence procurement defended a decision on Wednesday to narrow the contest for at least 1,600 new light utility Carney government excludes U.S. bidders from $4.9B army vehicle contract Carney government excludes U.S. bidders from $4.9B army vehicle contract Canada’s secretary of state for defence procurement defended a decision on Wednesday to narrow the contest for at least 1,600 new light utility Don Davies, the Vancouver Kingsway MP and New Democratic Party finance critic, said that this level of contracting with U.S.-controlled firms is “completely unacceptable” and “wrong in the current situation.” “But it’s consistent with the Carney approach to (U.S. President Donald Trump) from the beginning of his election, which is to talk tough and act weakly,” Davies said. “If we can’t find Canadian companies” for procurement contracts, “then I think we should be looking for non-U. S. sources,” he added. Shuvaloy Majumdar, the Calgary Heritage MP and Conservative Shadow Minister for Canada-U. S. Relations, said that the federal government should favour Canadian companies in procurement and be more transparent about contractors’ origins. “If Mark Carney wants the world to choose Canada, maybe his own Liberal government should start by choosing Canadian,” Majumdar said, in reference to the Prime Minister’s push to attract investment. “Canadians should be able to clearly see whether their tax dollars are supporting Canadian businesses and workers who are being hit hardest by unjustified U.S. tariffs, or if they are being funneled out to American companies,” he said. The four highest-grossing federal contractors under Carney are all American-controlled. Tech giants IBM and Microsoft charged Ottawa more than $1 billion each for software license fees and IT services, among other things. Defence contractor L3Harris earned more than $1.2 billion, the majority of it for aircraft parts and engineering services, while General Dynamics got $846 million, mostly for ammunition and engineering consultants. Canadian company Bombardier closes the top five with $710 million in contracts, mainly for aircraft parts. The Department of National Defence, which is responsible for some of the largest contracts with U.S.-controlled companies, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Neither did Minister of National Defence David McGuinty, nor Joël Lightbound, the minister responsible for procurement. Why relying on U.S. tech puts Canadian data at risk David Macdonald, a senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a progressive think tank, said the biggest risk of relying on American tech lies in “Canadians’ data sovereignty.” “Those American corporations are beholden to a U.S. government that has become increasingly erratic,” Macdonald said. “They seem perfectly willing to intrude upon their own citizens and likely our citizens’ data for their own ends, whatever those might be.” Other countries have been moving away from U.S. tech. In June, the European Commission proposed a series of measures to “strengthen Europe’s capacity in semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and open source.” At Shared Services Canada, the department responsible for federal IT infrastructure, spokesperson Nick Wells said that the government “ensures data is protected and governed under Canadian laws and meets stringent government requirements for security, privacy and accountability.” This includes maintaining classified data in Canadian facilities or within consular and diplomatic premises abroad, he said. The Star, simplified Breaking news, interactive polls, video, and voice notes. Star stories you’ll want to share, delivered where you’re already chatting. Follow the Star on WhatsApp. Macdonald said the Star’s analysis shows that the Buy Canadian Policy — which does not consider suppliers’ country of control in establishing whether they’re Canadian — is not enough. “It would take a concerted effort, particularly on the technology side, to move away from American dominance.” “I mean, there isn’t a Canadian Microsoft Word, right? It just doesn’t exist now,” he said. However, “you might want to mandate the federal government move toward open source alternatives, which certainly do exist.” Frédérik Plante is a Toronto-based investigative reporter for the Star. You can reach him at fplante@thestar.ca, @fx_plante on X or @fxplante.bsky.social on Bluesky.