Canada joins new fighter jet program as observer, at no cost

Canada has become the first country to gain observer status in the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), a sixth-generation fighter jet under joint development by Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, National Defence confirmed. The department said the status carries no cost, though joining as a full member later would bring unspecified "resource implications" depending on future talks with the consortium's governments.

National Defence said observer status will let Canada assess potential operational, industrial and economic benefits of deeper involvement, including opportunities for the country's aerospace sector to help shape the technology early. Defence Minister David McGuinty, speaking to reporters in Calgary, said Ottawa has an "obligation to see where the puck is going" and called the move "smart hockey," noting he signed on to the observer arrangement while in the U.K. two weeks earlier.

The announcement comes as Canada's plan to buy a full fleet of F-35 stealth fighters remains under political review by Prime Minister Mark Carney's government, a process launched over a year ago amid the trade dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump. The Auditor General's 2025 report found National Defence spent about $1 billion between 1997 and 2023 participating in the F-35 development program before purchasing any jets. Canada has so far committed to buying 16 of a planned 88 F-35s, and the ongoing review is also examining sovereign control of drones flying alongside the aircraft, as some aerospace firms prepare for a possible mixed fleet that could include Saab Gripen jets.