Photo: A banner with the names of some of the more than 21,000 Palestinian children killed since October 2023 is draped across the main parking lot entrance to the CANSEC arms show with Ottawa Police Service riot police in the background.
Last week hundreds of community members mobilized in Ottawa to uphold the principles of international law and challenge the impunity enjoyed by countries and companies that violate human rights around the world. In doing so, these local activists faced hundreds of heavily-armed officers from two police forces intent on enabling business as usual at Canada’s largest arms and emerging technology trade show.
The Ottawa Citizen newspaper reports: “Around 200 demonstrators were on hand Thursday [May 28, 2026] to protest the CANSEC arms trade show held at the Cohere convention centre in the south end of Ottawa. Demonstrators gathered around 7 a.m. in front of the centre, blowing whistles, banging drums and jeering some CANSEC attendees at they entered the conference.”
That article continues: “Rosie Lucente, a spokesperson for the Shut Down CANSEC campaign, said that it was important to protest ‘the largest weapons trade show in Canada’ and the arms companies that exhibited there. ‘They sell their weapons to Israel, to the Philippine government, to other governments that are carrying out genocide,’ Lucente told the Ottawa Citizen. ‘They fuel dictatorships, and every deal made here at CANSEC is a death sentence to a colonized person, to working people all around the world. This is their playground. This is their marketplace,’ she added.”
The countries at CANSEC
Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates: The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) published a partial list of the international delegations expected at CANSEC this year. They included, cross-referenced with Freedom House rankings: Saudi Arabia (9/100 – not free), Türkiye (32/100 – not free) and the United Arab Emirates (18/100 – not free).
The Philippines: As noted above, the Philippines (58/100 – partly free) was also present. Global Witness and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) have reported: “Since 2012, the Philippines has been ranked as the deadliest country in Asia for people protecting land and the environment, with mining linked to a third of all killings documented by Global Witness. …The military has been linked to the highest number of documented killings and detentions of land and environmental defenders in the Philippines over the past decade. These abuses have gone unchecked.”
Peru: Peru (66/100 – partly free) was also present at CANSEC. The Army of Peru posted on X: “#CANADA | The Peruvian Army, through its Defense and Military Attaché, participated in CANSEC, Canada’s most important defense and security fair, to learn about cutting-edge technologies and strengthen its land military capabilities. #NDP [nota de prensa/press release]” Amnesty International has documented: “Authorities [in Peru] used unnecessary and disproportionate force against demonstrators [in 2025]. The victims of excessive force during the 2022-2023 protests had still not obtained justice. Attacks on journalists and human rights defenders intensified.”
Israel: While the British government barred Israeli government officials from the DSEI arms show in London in September 2025 over “its military operation in Gaza”, CADSI welcomed Israel to CANSEC despite the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for that country’s prime minister for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Israeli ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, reposted on X a post from “Israel in Canada” (the Israeli Embassy in Canada) about CANSEC: “CANSEC wrapped – and the Canada-Israel tech and defense conversation is ready to go. The opportunities are real. Let’s build.”
The day after CANSEC concluded, Global Affairs Canada published its annual 2025 Annual Report on Strategic Goods and Technologies Pursuant to Section 27 of the Export and Import Permits Act. The Maple reports: “Canada exported $14.6 million worth of military goods directly to Israel last year, according to a report published today by Global Affairs Canada. …$4.3 million of the exported goods fell under an export category that covers ‘Bombs, torpedoes, rockets, missiles, other explosive devices and charges and related equipment and accessories, and specially designed components therefor.’”
This despite Canada’s obligations following the ruling of the International Court of Justice, as well as under the Genocide Convention and the Arms Trade Treaty.
The Dublin-based organization Front Line Defenders (the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders) has documented the killing of 31 Palestinian human rights defenders in 2023 and 2024. Their report for 2025 is expected in the coming months. They have also stated “those defending the right to health and the right to life as doctors, nurses, or ambulance workers, those exposing and documenting war crimes as journalists, and those providing humanitarian support as volunteers or employees of aid agencies were all specifically targeted by Israeli bombs or guns.”
Social media photo of Dr. Kavita Algu at CANSEC.
The companies at CANSEC
In September 2025, Amnesty International identified 15 companies “contributing to Israel’s unlawful occupation, genocide or other crimes under international law.” That list of companies includes Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), all of which are members of CADSI.
It has been confirmed that Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Elbit Systems was present at CANSEC. It is believed that IAI may have also been present.
In the context of a UN General Assembly resolution and an International Court of Justice advisory opinion in July 2024, Amnesty International has called on States to “bar these companies from trade shows” and for “people around the world” to “mobilize and campaign so that all states abide by their obligations and hold accountable corporations contributing or directly linked to Israel’s crimes.”
Just prior to CANSEC, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) Canada, in collaboration with Just Peace Advocates, also “formally requested that the Canada Border Services Agency deny entry to representatives of Israeli arms manufacturers Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries seeking to attend CANSEC 2026 in Ottawa.” They noted: “ICJP Canada argues that representatives of the two companies may be inadmissible under Section 35(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), based on complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023.”
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Action Center for Corporate further notes in their research document Companies Profiting from the Gaza Genocide: “Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems is one of the primary suppliers of weapons and surveillance systems to the Israeli military, including Skylark and Hermes military UAV drones, which form the majority of Israel’s fleet of large drones and have been used extensively in Gaza.”
Video still of Elbit booth at CANSEC 2026.
Just prior to CANSEC, the London, United Kingdom-based Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRC) has released a new report titled Navigating a global crossroads: Human rights defenders and business in 2025.
That BHRC report highlighted that in 2025 there had been “forty-six attacks against defenders raising concerns about arms and weapons companies and their complicity in conflict and genocide – a significant increase from only two attacks recorded per year in 2023 and in 2024.”
It further noted: “Protesters at arms fairs targeting companies selling weapons to Israel were detained in the United States, Turkey, Switzerland and France, whilst activists in New Zealand faced violence for protesting the militarisation of aerospace technology and its uses against civilian populations.”
Police intimidation at CANSEC 2026
Instances of police intimidation against human rights defenders challenging the CANSEC arms show this year included:
-Surveillance by drones, including at the parking lot of the Hilton Garden Inn Ottawa Airport hotel located 1.2 kilometres from the Cohere Centre. There were also police cars and police on bicycles in place at this parking lot. An area along Alert Road where defenders have previously parked was blocked for the first time this year with “special event parking” signs. At least one defender had their car towed from there.
-Police harassment of defenders parking at the Airport Viewing Area on Alert Road, about 1.5 kilometres from the Cohere Centre. At about 6:30 am, the Ottawa Police Service threatened to tow about a dozen cars parked in the parking lot marked “complementary parking”. They alleged that the owner of the parking lot had contacted them to say parking was not permitted in this area (despite the time, despite the sign). Several police cars were on the scene followed quickly by several tow trucks. In a further act of harassment and surveillance, the police were seen taking photographs of car licence plates.
-The stationing of the Ottawa Police Service mounted horse unit on the parking lot of the Cohere Centre. The Manchester, United Kingdom-based Omega Research Foundation has commented: “Any decision to deploy mounted police must be in-line with the international human rights standards of proportionality and necessity and it must be remembered that horses can react unpredictably when frightened or over stimulated, which may lead to nearby protesters or bystanders being injured.”
Policing costs could exceed $1.2 million
Research is required to determined how much public money was spent to have such a large police presence over two days at CANSEC this year.
A starting point to make this determination could be looking at the CTV News investigation into the costs of the 24-hour visit by King Charles to Ottawa in May 2025 that identified nearly $860,000 in police expenses.
That article further specified: “Security was co-ordinated by the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police], which incurred $253,134 in costs including officer overtime, travel expenses and meals. Public Safety Canada covered $604,732.63 in costs associated with Ottawa Police Service assistance like crowd management, road closures and motorcade co-ordination.”
It may also be informative to look at a report submitted by the Ottawa Police Service Chief of Police to the Ottawa Police Service Board in September 2025.
That report noted an $8.5 million cost related to “events and demonstrations pressures” including “surge capacity costs of reimbursing assisting police services, alongside overtime and non-compensation costs are the primary drivers of event and demonstration-related pressures.”
Along with noting “the visit of King Charles and Queen Camilla to the Nation’s Capital” (that CTV News costed at about $605,000.), the Chief of Police also highlighted “events and demonstrations include the ongoing demonstrations related to the Middle East conflict [and] the CANSEC trade show.”
Journalists excluded
The Ottawa Citizen reports: “This year also saw a number of journalists and media outlets who published articles critical of the defence industry, arms exports and military spending denied entry to CANSEC. …[CADSI spokesperson Monique] Scotti did not address CADSI’s decision to refuse accreditation to some media outlets.”
Alex Cosh from The Maple further reports: “Canada’s largest arms fair has refused media accreditation for multiple independent journalists and media outlets, including The Maple. …In 2023, CADSI refused accreditation to The Breach, another independent news publication, on the basis that it conducts ‘aggressively critical anti-war journalism.’ According to The Breach, a CADSI representative offered access that was conditional on The Breach providing positive coverage.”
Noting the protest against CANSEC that took place in May 2025, the Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRC) documented: “A journalist in Canada was forcefully restrained and arrested by police for covering protests against the CANSEC arms show, targeting companies linked to weapons sales to Israel and the war in Gaza.”
CANSEC 2027
It is expected that the next CANSEC will take place on Wednesday May 26 and Thursday May 27, 2027, at the Cohere Centre.
Additional reading
–A “Marketplace of Mass Death” (Rahul Balasundaram, The Leveller, May 20, 2026)
–Protesters out in force to demonstrate against CANSEC arms show (Matteo Cimellaro, David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen, May 28, 2026)
–Demonstrators aim to shut down CANSEC (Jodie Applewaithe, CBC News video report, May 28, 2026)
–CANSEC 2026 Breakdown: federal investments and protest progression (Alexandrea Abungin & Bhoomi Dahiya, The Fulcrum, May 29, 2026)
–Canadian defence company rejects opposition calls to cancel contract for armoured vehicles used by ICE (Irem Koca, The Hill Times, May 29, 2026).
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