Ottawa and Export Development Canada have reached an agreement to provide up to $2.5 billion in financing to De Havilland Canada, a Calgary-headquartered aircraft manufacturer, to expand production of the De Havilland Canadair 515 amphibious firefighting aircraft.
The agreement was announced Friday, October 30, 2026, alongside a wider Canada–European Union partnership. De Havilland says the financing would allow it to accelerate manufacturing, offer additional production slots beginning in 2030 and gradually ramp up to double its current DHC-515 production capacity.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027. Its public announcements do not disclose the detailed loan or guarantee structure, interest rates, repayment terms or how much would be allocated to specific facilities. The $2.5-billion figure is a maximum financing commitment, not a confirmed non-repayable grant, federal aircraft order or sum already disbursed.
What this means for Calgary and Alberta
The company plans to hire staff and invest in added production capacity at Canadian operations in Calgary, Victoria, Toronto, Kitchener and Fort Erie. It also intends to work with parts suppliers across the country to accelerate aircraft component deliveries.
Ottawa says the production increase would support thousands of jobs in Wheatland County, east of Calgary. De Havilland separately projects thousands of jobs across Canada from expanded manufacturing and supply-chain activity. Neither announcement specifies the number of new hires directly tied to the financing at the Calgary facility.
Wheatland County is already home to the developing De Havilland Field Aircraft Manufacturing and Operations Centre. Alberta's major-projects registry describes a roughly 1,500-acre site planned for aircraft assembly, component manufacturing, distribution and maintenance. It projects approximately 3,000 permanent operational positions at the broader complex after completion, with its first building expected to open in spring 2028.
That 3,000-job estimate predates Friday's financing announcement and applies to the wider De Havilland Field project. It should not be added to the company's new national jobs projections or represented as newly confirmed jobs created by this agreement.
Why the waterbombers matter
The DHC-515, the successor to the Canadair CL-415, is a purpose-built amphibious firefighting aircraft that can collect water from suitable lakes or other bodies of water and release it over wildfires. The manufacturing expansion is intended to address demand from Canadian provinces, European customers and other wildfire response agencies.
In March, De Havilland reported producing 22 aircraft for European customers and having also signed contracts with Manitoba, Ontario and Alberta. The company said it had joined the cockpit and hull of the first DHC-515 in its Calgary assembly line. Friday's agreement concerns additional manufacturing capacity; it does not itself announce a new order for those previously contracted aircraft.
The federal government linked the financing to closer Canada–EU cooperation on wildfire response and aerospace manufacturing. Expanding aircraft supply could strengthen firefighting capacity over time, but it does not immediately add aircraft to emergency fleets or establish a federal national waterbomber fleet.
What remains to be confirmed
The public announcements leave several practical details open: the final terms of the Export Development Canada financing, the number of new Canadian and Calgary jobs, which De Havilland sites will receive specific investments, the company's expanded annual output and the delivery schedule for aircraft made under the additional production slots.
De Havilland expects the transaction to be completed by March 2027. Its stated target is to offer additional manufacturing slots from 2030 and expand capacity thereafter, not to deliver a new fleet immediately.
Original sources
De Havilland Canada: October 30, 2026 financing agreement and production expansion announcement.
Government of Alberta: existing De Havilland Field development, location and job projections.
De Havilland Canada: March 10 DHC-515 aircraft production update and previously announced orders.