'Strategic choice': B.C. backs bid to host new defence bank in Vancouver

B.C. wants defence bank

Photo: The Canadian Press

B.C. Premier David Eby pauses as he speaks during a news conference at Seaspan's Vancouver shipyard in North Vancouver, on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

British Columbia's government is supporting a private bid to host a new international bank to finance military projects by democratic nations, with Premier David Eby calling Vancouver the "strategic choice" to host it.

The Defence, Security and Resilience Bank is intended to finance military projects for members of NATO and its allies.

Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto have also been pitched as possible headquarters for the bank, but Eby says that if Canada wins the international hosting competition, Vancouver is the "obvious" choice.

Bridgitte Anderson, president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, says the bank will be more than just a financial institution, telling a news conference at the facilities of shipbuilder Seaspan that it will be a "vital security instrument" and locating it in Vancouver would give the bank "a strategic advantage."

Anderson, who also heads the bid committee for the bank, says Vancouver is a "tri-continental bridge" connecting Europe, the Pacific and the Arctic.

Toronto and Montreal are also bidding, but Eby says the "centre" of Canada is no longer based in eastern Canada, as the country looks to deepen relationships with countries other than the United States, including the fast-growing economies of Asia.