Calgary-based Denvr has partnered with Ottawa defence firm Dominion Dynamics to develop what the companies are calling Canada's first sovereign AI simulation environment purpose-built for Autonomous Collaborative Platforms — unmanned aircraft designed to fly alongside and support next-generation crewed fighter jets.

The simulation environment will be built on Denvr's Canada AI Platform (CAIP), a fully sovereign AI infrastructure platform designed to handle classified workloads entirely within Canadian jurisdiction. By operating on Canadian-owned infrastructure, the platform eliminates exposure to foreign legislation — a meaningful consideration for defence applications.

"The Canada AI Platform was built for exactly this purpose," said Denvr CEO Geoff Gordon. "A sovereign AI platform, designed to Canadian defence standards, operating entirely under Canadian jurisdiction."

For Denvr, the partnership is a significant validation of the platform it has been building. CAIP is the infrastructure backbone of the CAIP Defence Coalition, a consortium of Canadian sovereign defence technology companies developing a national AI platform for defence, of which Dominion Dynamics is a founding partner.

Dominion brings considerable momentum to the collaboration. The defence firm completed a $21-million seed round in January to accelerate development of sovereign defence technologies and is currently conducting Arctic trials with the Canadian Rangers. Its advisory board includes General Wayne Eyre, former Chief of the Defence Staff. Earlier this month, Dominion announced an initial $50-million investment to develop autonomous collaborative platform capability.

Dominion CEO Eliot Pence says the goal is to establish Canada as a leader in autonomous systems built for extreme environments.

"We believe Canada can be a world leader in building autonomous systems that operate in extreme environments. By partnering with Denvr, we will create a secure, Canadian-owned simulation environment to train and validate ACPs for the Canadian Armed Forces and our allied partners."

The joint simulation environment will support NORAD modernization, Arctic defence, and next-generation readiness for the Canadian Armed Forces, as collaborative combat aircraft and AI-enabled defence systems become central components of modern air power.