How the RCN is Preparing for 21st Century Threats: A Conversation with VAdm Angus Topshee

With the Royal Canadian Navy facing urgent demands to grow its workforce, maintain aging ships, and prepare for increasingly complex security challenges in the Arctic and Indo-Pacific, can it balance immediate operational needs with long-term modernization?

Today, Vice Admiral Angus Topshee, commander of the royal Canadian navy, joins us for a discussion on the future of the RCN, its challenges, priorities, and evolving role in a more contested global security environment.

VAdm Topshee details the RCN’s efforts to rebuild its force through accelerated recruitment and training, sustain aging fleets while transitioning to next-generation platforms, and project Canadian naval presence in both the Indo-Pacific and Arctic. He also reflects on the Victoria Class replacement and its role in Arctic security, infrastructure needs in the North, Canada’s evolving Indo-Pacific posture and multilateral naval cooperation, technological modernization, including the pursuit of unmanned systems and ISR platforms, as well as Canada’s interests in Antarctica.

➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cdainstitute/
➡️ Twitter/X: https://x.com/CDAInstitute
➡️ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/cdainstitute.bsky.social
➡️ Instagram: https://bit.ly/42ih7SU

📬 Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest defence and security updates delivered to your inbox: https://bit.ly/4fQ2wDV

The CDA Institute is a non-partisan think tank that conducts research and education programming on defence and security.

The CDA Institute is a non-partisan think tank that conducts research and education programming on defence and security.

Learn more: CDA Institute