Live, from Herning, Denmark.
In the centre of Jutland, this is Northern Europe’s biggest defence show.
Highs of 19 and lows of 10.
“Summer has officially ended” one attendee dryly remarked.
And after putting on a sweater for the first time this summer, he might be right.
But with 1242 listed exhibitors at the new location, expanded due to demand, Canada’s Nordic relationship was hotter than ever.
This year’s DALO Industry Days ran Aug. 19-20 at MCH Messecenter Herning. A new location, some growing pains and huge queues for hot dogs, but the woodstock of defence kept the tents.
Rain or shine.
And Canada showed up.
--2025--
For a throwback: check out the CanadaxEurope launch issue posted a year ago from DALO 2025!
--Why DALO--
Canada’s lineup: 30+ orgs made the trip.
Building on this year’s European defence show momentum, Canada is moving from the sidelines to a seat at the European defence industry table.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reignited European defence investment. And Denmark has been a leader.
The Danish model of industry working hand-in-hand to blend Ukrainian and Danish savoir-faire and dual-manufacturing sites has built out redundancy while testing new technological limits.
With Finland and Sweden now NATO’s newest members, Finland holds NATO’s longest land border with Russia.
Canada and Denmark share Canada’s only other land border.
The group of Arctic partners are increasingly cooperating in several sectors beyond defence. But as the North attracts more global attention, security goals has taken the front seat, with a defence cooperation agreement signed in Feb, 2026.
Attending DALO puts you in the centre of the action: acute awareness of threats to European security, Arctic centrality, and Danish-Ukrainian innovation.
Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark also serve as Canada’s neighbours - an eastern and northern neighbour with a contrasting model of civility.
Canadian firms that land contracts here win a launchpad into the wider European defence market.
Terma (one of Denmark’s leading tier 1s) was recently awarded a PolarMax Aerial Surveillance Radar contract. Canada’s PAL Aerospace recently won work with Air Greenland for DHC-8-200 Missionization Program.
The Danish-Canadian Monday briefing emphasized these commercial, diplomatic and defence ties, with heavy government and industry attendance.
--The Delegation--
Here’s a breakdown of the 30+ Canadian organizations who made the trip:
International firms with Canadian presence, OEMs, 13 SMEs, 6 Primes & Tier 1s, 4 Government & Crown corporations, and 1 Industry association.
14 SMEs out of 30 companies in the delegation. That ratio speaks to the growing importance of small & medium firms in Canada’s trade and export push.
Canada had record showings of 200+ organizations to both Farnborough (London) and Eurosatory (Paris) this summer, and expect a record delegation at MSPO (Poland). This clocks DALO Days in at 4th place.
While more companies exhibited at DAIMEX, the crown-jewel baltic event, DALO beats it out on total attendance.
--The Bigger Picture--
The Defence Industrial Strategy calls for 50% more defence exports by 2035 and stronger whole-of-government support for strategic export opportunities.
SMEs make up 92% of Canada’s defence industrial base and 40% of its employment.
But only around 15% of SMEs currently export according to the latest State of Trade report. Canada started its export push strong, but we need more SME exports if we’re serious about diversifying supply chains and scaling our production capacity.
To hit that export target, shows like DALO are critical. Canadian firms need to connect with procurement leaders on the ground and plug into European supply chains.
P.S. Looking to understand a view from the Arctic? Here’s a link to ambassador Carolyn Bennett’s favourite map.
P.S.S. Despite DALO Days’s new location, canadaxeurope.com is still has more subs than DALO has exhibitors: 1449 and counting, thanks for being a part of it!
Thanks for an excellent article! Yes, it’s high time Canada and its great businesses have showed up in force. I’m thrilled the relationship is heating up with like minded allies. For years we have been way too “North America centric”. We should have done this decades sooner. It’s never too late.
Thank you for sharing this in your post. Seeing the world growing beyond the relationships of the past is the entire point. How old do we have to be to see the reality of the world and how fragile the relationship between success and failure? I hate that anyone needs to protect themselves. But my wishes won’t buy you two hotdogs….