Defence Skills Trends—October 2026

Defence Skills Trends—October 2026

Skills and Workforce Development
Pages:27 pages21 min read

Author: Signal49 Research

$895.00

This research examines hiring trends for jobs in defence and defence-adjacent industries from 2023 to the first half of 2026, including education requirements, most in-demand skills and roles, and wage premiums over the general job market.

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The Force Behind the Force: Defence Skills Trend

In this research, we examine job posting trends for occupations in defence and defence-related industries from 2023 to the first half of 2026, share our growth projections for high-demand jobs in these sectors out to 2030, and offer advice for post-secondary institutions on how to capitalize on rising demand and help their students get hired into these jobs.

What level of education do most of the available positions require? Do jobs in these sectors offer a wage premium? What are the top in-demand skills and occupations in defence and defence-adjacent industries?

Read the issue briefing to get our full analysis.

Key findings
Spotlight insights
Defence skills for a more resilient Canada
Employer demand for defence-related skills
Post-secondary institutions are already responding
Recommendations for post-secondary leaders
Appendix A: Methodology
Appendix B: Bibliography

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