The Canadian government has confirmed it is in active discussions with the United States about potentially joining President Donald Trump’s proposed Golden Dome missile defence system, a multi-billion-dollar initiative aimed at countering “next-generation” aerial threats, including hypersonic and space-launched missiles.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said on Wednesday that talks with the US include both existing security frameworks and new programmes like the Golden Dome, which is projected to cost $175 billion and be operational by the end of Trump’s term.
While Carney confirmed interest in the programme, his office emphasised that it is too early to say how Canada might participate or how much it would invest. President Trump has said publicly that Canada is welcome to join but must “pay its fair share” to benefit from the system’s protection.
“They want to have protection also, so as usual, we help Canada,” Trump said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
The initial US investment in the Golden Dome is set at $25 billion, but the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that space-based components alone could cost as much as $542 billion over 20 years.
The president says the system will be fully operational within three years, capable of intercepting missiles from space and global threats
Inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome
Trump said the system was inspired in part by Israel’s Iron Dome, used since 2011 to intercept short-range rockets, but insisted the US version would be vastly larger and more technologically advanced, integrating space-based sensors and interceptors designed to intercept missiles launched from “the other side of the world — or from space.”
Experts have raised concerns about the feasibility of such a system on a continental scale. Shashank Joshi, defence editor at The Economist, told the BBC that the only realistic version would involve thousands of satellites capable of early detection and interception from orbit.
“It’s unlikely the system could be completed during Trump’s term,” Joshi said. “And the cost could swallow a large part of the US defence budget.”
Canada’s potential involvement in the Golden Dome comes during sensitive trade and security negotiations between Ottawa and Washington. Trump has threatened punitive tariffs on Canada and controversially remarked that the country might be “better off as a US state.”
Ironically, that rhetoric is believed to have galvanised Canadian national identity, contributing to Carney’s sweeping electoral victory earlier this year.
