🌊 A Tidal Wave of Opportunity is Coming 🌊

ABCDMI 2026 Business Opportunities Conference and Trade Show – Agenda

Dates:  Tuesday, October 20 and Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre West Building, 1055 Canada Pl, Vancouver, BC

Day 1 (Tuesday, October 20)

08:30:  Welcome Desk and Trade Show Opens (along with light breakfast)

09:00 – 10:30: Fall 2026 PSPC Marine Procurement Outlook – PSPC Team & Federal Fleet Presenters

10:30 – 10:45:  Health Break

10:45 – 10:50:  Opening Remarks – Alex Rueben, CEO ABCDMI 

10:50 – 11:05:  Opening Address – Rear-Admiral David Patchell, Commander Maritime Forces Pacific & Joint Task Force Pacific

11:05 – 12:15:  Panel # 1 – Defence Procurement Business Opportunities

Moderator: Alex Rueben, CEO, ABCDMI

• Thales Canada - Tom Rose, Vice President, Industry, Offsets & Government Relations
• Babcock Canada - Tony March, CEO
• TKMS Canada - Rick Gerbrecht, President & CEO
• Lockheed Martin Canada - Elizabeth Liddy, Industrial Development Country Leader, Canada & Latin America
• Seaspan Shipyards - Dave Hargreaves, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development

12:15 – 13:30:  Networking and Trade Show Time – also Lunch Break

13:30 – 14:30:  Panel # 2 – SMBs and Defence Procurement – The Hurdles

Moderator: Naina Sloan, President, Pacific Economic Development Canada

• Carole Arneson - COO, Jastram Engineering
• Al Vigier - CEO & Founder, Caseway
• Golriz Fattahi - CEO, Alacrity Canada
• Clinton Lawrence-Whyte – Director General, Buy Canadian, SMEs, and Digital Solutions Sector, Public Services and Procurement Canada

14:30 – 15:30:  Panel # 3 – Ensuring Canada’s Sovereignty in the Arctic – What is needed?

Moderator: Victoria Belbin, CEO, Atlantic Canada Aerospace & Defence Association

• Steven Waddell, Deputy National Director, Defence and Federal Government Relations, PCL Constuction
• Rob Waye, Head of Growth, Dominion Dynamics Ltd
• Mark Thibodeau, Director of Sonar Systems, General Dynamics Mission Systems – Canada
• Neil O’Rourke, Director General, Fleet and Maritime Services, Canadian Coast Guard

15:30 – 16:00:  Networking and Trade Show Time – also Coffee & Health Break

16:00 – 17:00:  Panel # 4 – Challenges & Opportunities – RCN & CCG & DIA

Moderator: Alex Rueben, CEO, ABCDMI

• Cmdre Scott Robinson, Director General Naval Force Development, Royal Canadian Navy
• Cmdre Michel Thibault, Director General Maritime Equipment Program Management, ADM(Mat), DND
• Derek Moss, Assistant Commissioner, Western Region, Canadian Coast Guard
• Nicolas Nabaa, Director General Marine and Space Procurement, Defence Investment Agency

17:00 – 19:00:  Networking Reception (in Trade Show area)

Day 2 (Wednesday, October 21)

07:30:  Welcome Desk & Trade Show opens (along with Light Breakfast)

08:00 – 08:05:  Opening Remarks – Alex Rueben, CEO, ABCDMI

08:05 – 08:20:  Featured Speaker – TBD

08:20 – 09:30:  Panel # 5 – Defence Procurement Business Opportunities

Moderator: Alex Rueben, CEO, ABCDMI

• Chantier Davie Canada – Jason Reid, Vice President, Business Development
• L3Harris Technologies – Xavier Arbour, Director Business Development
• MDA Space/49North Defence – Rich Billard, Director of Programs
• CAE Defence & Security – Jason Healey, Director Business Development
• BMT – Emily Spurling, Regional Business Director Canada/US

09:30 – 10:15: Networking and Trade Show Time – also Coffee & Health Break

10:15 – 11:00: Panel # 6 – The revised Industrial Technical Benefits Policy – Getting SMBs involved

Moderator: Colin Stephenson, Executive Directot, DEFSEC West

• Jenifer Lévesque – Deputy Director of Strategic Policy (ITB), Defence Investment Agency
• Jennifer Leng – Senior Industrial Participation and Benefits Manager, L3Harris Technologies
• Chad Hey – Director Industrial Participation & Strategic Initiatives, Seaspan Shipyards

11:00 – 12:00: Industry Showcase – Did you know?

• University of British Columbia - Jon Mikkelson, Professor of Teaching  Director, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

• Kongsberg Maritime - Owen Brine, Regional Sales Director

• Current Corporation - Erik Seidelmann, Director of Sales

• Atreides – Jeff Spencer, Co-Founder

• Caseway - Al Vigier, CEO & Founder

12:00 – 13:15:  Networking and Trade Show Time – also Lunch Break

13:15 – 14:15:  Panel # 7 – Autonomous Operations & Domain Awareness

Moderator: Jason Goldsworthy, Executive Director, Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies

• Cdr Greg Atkinson, Director of Naval Requirements 2 – Remote and Autonmous Systems, Royal Canadian Navy
• Neil Manning, CEO, Cellula Robotics
• Sebastian Berg, Chief Engineer, Shift Coastal Technologies
• Alex Deslauriers, CEO, Fireswarm Solutions

14:15 – 15:25:  Panel # 8 – Canada’s Defence and Security Ambition and Implementation

Moderator: VAdm (Ret’d) Bruce Donaldson, Associate, CFN Consultants

• Richard Shimooka, Senior Fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute
• Assistant Commissioner Derek Moss, Canadian Coast Guard Western Region
• Rear Admiral David Patchell, Commander Maritime Forces Pacific/Joint Task Force (Pacific)
• Richard Shimooka, Senior Fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute
• Major General (Ret’d) Michel-Henri St-Louis, Senior Advisor Defence and Federal Government, Bird Construction
• Commodore Sam Sader, Chief Joint Capabilities Integration, Canadian Armed Forces

15:25:  Concluding Remarks – Alex Rueben, CEO, ABCDMI & Board President