Canada to join multinational fighter program in observer role: reports

Canada is widely expected to enter into a multinational, next-generation fighter jet program this week, though not as a full member.

International news media have reported for months that Ottawa is poised to sign onto a program to make a sixth-generation fighter with the U.K., Japan and Italy.

Ottawa has been eyeing observer status, which means getting access to inside information on the Global Combat Air Program before deciding on anything.

The program would replace Japan’s F-2 jets and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the U.K. and Italy.

Several Canadian cabinet ministers are attending the biennial Farnborough International Airshow in the U.K. this week, and an announcement could happen on Tuesday.

Defence Minister David McGuinty’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

But on a trip to Japan last month, McGuinty told reporters in Tokyo that Canada is “anxious to learn more about” the fighter program and that he raised it when he met with Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.

“On the question of the GCAP, yes, this was discussed with Minister Koizumi yesterday, expressing our interest in learning more about the program,” McGuinty said on June 24.

“We know that the United States is pursuing its own individual initiatives in this area, wants to go alone at this stage.”

Boeing is engineering the sixth-gen F-47 for the U.S. Air Force to replace the F-22 Raptor.

Questions about Canada being poised to join the fighter program have circled for months, since Japanese media started writing about Ottawa’s apparent intense interest in the program in March.

At an April 27 committee hearing, Sen. Claude Carignan asked the minister if the government intends to join the program, after a Japanese newspaper reported Canada could gain observer status as early as July.

“It’s something we’re looking at as the next generation of fighter jets, but the final decision hasn’t been made,” McGuinty replied.

Meantime, Canada’s planned acquisition of fifth-generation fighter jets — its order for 88 F-35s — has remained under a lengthy review.

Prime Minister Mark Carney put the full order under review in March 2025, amid the ongoing trade war started by U.S. President Donald Trump. 

More than fifteen months later, the government has yet to announce its formal decision.

Meantime, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon and Secretary of State for Defence Procurement Stephen Fuhr are all headed to the Farnborough airshow that runs July 20 to 24.

Doug Guzman, the head of the Liberal government’s new Defence Investment Agency, is also expected to be on site.

The federal government said representatives from some 150 Canadian firms are expected at the airshow.

Joly and MacKinnon both have meetings later on with businesses in London.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2026.

By Canadian Press Staff | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.