Canada exported $30,641,495.83 in “military goods and technology” to Israel in 2023

Published by Brent Patterson on May 31, 2024May 31, 2024

Photo: Protest against the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa, May 29, 2024.

The 2023 Exports of Military goods and technology report released by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) on May 31 notes that Canada exported $30,641,495.83 in “military goods” to Israel through 348 “utilized permits”.

Of the twelve Export Control List (ECL) categories of “military goods and technology” sold to Israel, the top three were:

2-11      $13,059,723.35 (Electronic equipment, “spacecraft” and components, not specified elsewhere on the Munitions List)

2-4        $10,458,545.34 (Bombs, torpedoes, grenades, smoke canisters, rockets, mines, missiles…)

2-10      $4,368,437.83 (“Aircraft”, “lighter-than-air vehicles”, “unmanned aerial vehicles” (“UAVs”), aero-engines and “aircraft” equipment, related equipment, and components, specially designed or modified for military use.)

Crucial omissions

The Global Affairs Canada crucially does not mention the specific weapons or components that were exported to Israel (it only provides the above citied general categories) nor does it mention the specific corporations based in Canada that exported “military goods” to Israel in 2023.

Non-lethal items?

Page 13 of the Global Affairs Canada report further notes: “Throughout 2023, export permit applications for military goods and technology to Israel were reviewed on a case-by-case basis, including against the ATT [Arms Trade Treaty] criteria, which are enshrined in the EIPA [Export and Import Permits Act]. Following the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent military operations by Israel in Gaza, the only permits issued were for non-lethal items. No permits have been issued since January 8, 2024, and all permits that remain open valid at the time of tabling of this report are for non-lethal items.”

On page 22 (then again on pages 26, 29, 36 and 50), the report repeats: “Following the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent military operations by Israel in Gaza, the only permits issued were for non-lethal items.”

Kelsey Gallagher of Project Ploughshares has commented: “Canada’s export controls make no distinction between lethal and non-lethal military goods and, indeed, do not define either term. …An examination of public statements by Canadian authorities and official export records suggests that the distinction between lethal and non-lethal military equipment is more accurately a distinction between full systems (e.g., tanks or combat aircraft) and parts and components (e.g., fire control computers or circuitry used in aircraft cockpits).”

$28.5 million in October-November

On February 10, 2024, Alex Cosh of The Maple reported: “The Trudeau government authorized at least $28.5 million of new permits for military exports to Israel during the first two months of the state’s brutal war on Gaza, data supplied to The Maple by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) shows.”

Arms Embargo Now

Peace Brigades International-Canada has signed this statement in support of an arms embargo that states in part:

“Canadian companies export weapons, components, and military technology to Israel, including via the United States. These military exports, whether directly or by way of intermediaries, put Canada at risk of complicity in Israel’s grave human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank.

While the Minister of Foreign Affairs has verbally committed to pausing approvals of future arms export permits to Israel, Canada must go further. It must cancel existing export permits, close all export loopholes, and implement an Arms Embargo under Canada’s Special Economic Measures Act, which recognizes the necessity of a two-way prohibition.”

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: PBI calls for respect for international law, protection of human rights defenders and an immediate cease-fire in Gaza (February 28, 2024).