Calgary, Sept. 11 -- Canada and Ukraine have agreed to expand joint production of drones and counter-drone systems as Ottawa moves to strengthen its domestic defence industry and deepen long-term security cooperation with Kyiv.

Canada will establish a national Defence Drone Initiative Marketplace, designed to connect military and other government users with Canadian suppliers of uncrewed and counter-uncrewed systems.

The government said it has awarded initial contracts worth up to C$50 million ($37 million) to increase the number of drones currently deployed by the Canadian Armed Forces tenfold.

Ottawa said it aims to build the industrial capacity to produce millions of drones over the next two years.

The initiative is modelled on Ukr...