Arms Trade
Irresponsible arms transfers catalyze war and erode human security. The mass trade in conventional weapons—ranging from small arms to fighter aircraft and the components that comprise them—increases the likelihood and length of armed conflict and contributes to the severity of the violence.
Conventional arms controls aim to regulate the import and export of weapons systems and mitigate the negative effects of their proliferation. Project Ploughshares conducts research and advocates to strengthen government compliance with national and multilateral arms control regimes, including the Arms Trade Treaty. Project Ploughshares serves as a member of the steering board of the Control Arms coalition, while also participating in other civil society coalitions in Canada and abroad.
A key focus of our work involves monitoring and reporting on Canada’s production and export of military goods. To support this effort, we maintain the Canadian Military Industry Database (CMID) which compiles publicly available records of military contracts awarded to Canadian companies, as well as annual government reports of arms exports to foreign states. Reports from the database are made available to a range of researchers, organizations, and media.
Latest Publications on Arms Trade
- Rules for Others: Selective Outrage, Silent Complicity, and an Alarming Lack of Principled Leadership
- Canada under Contract to Supply the IDF with Artillery Propellant
- Canada’s largest defence contracts to the US: FY2024
- Global Production of the Israeli F-35I Joint Strike Fighter
- An affront to humanitarian norms: Statement on U.S. decision to supply landmines to Ukraine
- Hope for a troubled world
- Scaling up the effectiveness of the ATT’s Conference of States Parties
- A Five-Point Agenda for Renewed Canadian Action on Nuclear Disarmament
- The endless dance of NPT meetings
- Canada’s weapons exports in 2023