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The Tell: What It Means When a Bank Hires a General 

November 05, 2026 • 01:20 PM – 01:35 PM
Canada Hall 1

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DEPLOY Dual-Use Summit (Nov 5-ONLY) Keynote Stage

Ten days before this stage, National Bank did something Canadian banks don’t normally do — it hired a retired Chief of Defence Staff to advise it on defence. This move is a signal. In this solo session, General (Ret’d) Rick Hillier makes the case, on National Bank’s behalf, for why Canada’s defence industrial base is now a genuine institutional priority for the country’s capital markets — and what founders should read into it when the money side of the industry starts making hires like this one.