The organizer of CANSEC, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), notes that their event attracts “60+ International delegations” and “300 Exhibiting Companies”.
Amnesty International has cautioned: “[In 2024-2025] Canada continued to export arms and military equipment to countries despite lack of accountability for past violations and substantial risks that they could be used in serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”
Unlike the British government, the Canadian government does not make public the list of countries that come to CANSEC to shop for weapons and technology.
It is known however from past reports (from CADSI in 2015 and the Canadian Commercial Corporation in 2014) and various social media posts that delegations from Argentina, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Equatorial Guinea, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Oman, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, United States, and the United Arab Emirates have all attended CANSEC in previous years.
Some of the countries at CANSEC 2026
This year, CADSI has posted in their “CANSEC 2026 Media Partner Prospectus” the flags of 32 of the 60+ countries that will be present.
They include (first row) Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary (second row) Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand (third row) Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain (fourth row) Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States.
Human rights
To cross-reference these countries – particularly Argentina, Israel, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Turkey, and the United States – with state violence against human right defenders and communities, go to The State of the World’s Human Rights report (Amnesty International, April 2025).
Just three examples from that Amnesty International report:
The USA- “The USA has continued to be by far the largest exporter of arms to Israel, and some European states, including the Czech Republic, France and Germany, have continued to transfer arms to states where there was a lack of accountability for past abuses and a substantial risk they could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).”
Peru- “Criminal investigations were ongoing into 50 deaths and hundreds of injuries during protests between December 2022 and February 2023. In July, the Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated criminal proceedings against high-ranking military and police officers and the Attorney General presented a second constitutional complaint against President Dina Boluarte and five of her former ministers. Investigations into killings during protests in November 2020 had not made significant progress.”
Philippines- “’Red-tagging’ the public vilification of human rights defenders and other targeted groups and individuals as alleged members and clandestine recruiters of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) continued. …Activists increasingly became victims of enforced disappearances. In April, labour organizer William Lariosa was reportedly abducted in Bukidnon province; the military denied holding him in custody. He remained missing at year’s end.”
Furthermore, in their World Report 2025, Human Rights Watch noted: “Soldiers [in Mexico] have been implicated in a wide range of serious abuses against civilians, including torture, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances. These accusations are rarely effectively investigated by civilian authorities. …The military has obstructed the investigation and prosecution of past human rights abuses, including the 2014 Ayotzinapa mass kidnapping case and widespread military abuses committed during the Cold War. Investigators said the military has hidden, destroyed, or denied the existence of records of human rights violations and pressured authorities to drop criminal charges against soldiers implicated in abuses.”
Shut Down CANSEC
A wide range of social movements, peace groups, faith communities, non-governmental organizations, and individuals will be mobilizing to protest the CANSEC arms show on Wednesday May 27 and Thursday May 28.
Peace Brigades International-Canada is highlighting the dangers faced by human rights defenders from the arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show as part of our commitment to holistic protection accompaniment.
Additional reading
–PBI-Canada highlights the dangers faced by human rights defenders from arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa (April 15, 2026)
–PBI-Canada joins Canadian Friends Service Committee webinar that links Quaker responses to the DSEI arms fair with CANSEC in Ottawa (April 17, 2026).
