Canada Pledges $2.5 Billion to Double Water Bomber Production
De Havilland Canada secured $2.5 billion in federal financing to double production of its DHC-515 firefighting aircraft and expand facilities across Canada.
The Government of Canada and Export Development Canada have pledged up to $2.5 billion in loans and loan guarantees to De Havilland Canada to double the production of its Canadair 515 (DHC-515) amphibious firefighting aircraft. The financing will support a second assembly line in Alberta, expanding production capacity to 20 aircraft per year. The company plans to use the capital to hire approximately 1,200 direct staff and invest in production sites in Victoria, Calgary, Toronto, Kitchener, and Fort Erie.
Final assembly will eventually move to the new De Havilland Field currently under construction in Wheatland County, Alberta. The expansion follows a Canada-EU Summit in Montreal, where officials agreed to increase collaboration on disaster response. While the company has an order book of 38 planes for Canadian and European clients, it has yet to deliver a single aircraft due to supply chain collapses following a production hiatus between 2015 and 2022. The first delivery is now projected for early 2028, with additional slots entering the market by 2030.
Despite the funding, critics have raised concerns regarding the financial risks of scaling production and a lack of automation in the hand-riveted assembly process. De Havilland has sought a national order of 50 planes to further stabilize operations, noting that global demand remains high.
