Alliance PartnershipBest Defence Conference — Alliance Partnership Brochure
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Best Defence Conference
ODAOfficial Go-To Conference of the
Ontario Defence Association
Proud Supporter and Partner
Alliance Partnership Program

Your community. Access
Canada's largest defence-industrial base.

Alliance Partnership is a reciprocal, performance-based relationship — not a sponsorship. Partners bring reach and recruitment; Best Defence brings co-branded campaign support, delegation recognition, and conference passes. What each side contributes, and what comes back, is shaped together. Conference branding and sponsorship rights are always priced separately.

Conference
Held annually · London, Ontario
Format
Two days
Basis
Reciprocal & performance-based
01
Strategic Alliance Partner
Large associations, chambers, clusters, and innovation organizations with the reach to build a significant delegation.
02
Sector Alliance Partner
Specialist organizations with a narrower but highly relevant audience, focused on one sector delegation.
Add-on · Hosted Experience Partner
An optional module — not a status level — that lets an approved partner run its own co-branded reception, dinner, breakfast, or roundtable inside the official conference week.
bestdefence.co · Official Go-To Conference of the Ontario Defence Association · Proud Supporter and PartnerAlliance Partnership · Page 1 of 7

The front line of access to Canada's defence-industrial base

Best Defence Conference
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The Best Defence Conference is the ODA’s premier destination for industry insights that shape what’s next, high-value networking, and strategic partnerships that drive Canada’s defence sector forward. Where the largest trade shows chase scale, Best Defence is built for connection — direct, affordable access to prime contractors, the Canadian supply chain, the Canadian Armed Forces, and government. Two days, one venue, and a room organized around introductions rather than floor space.

500+
Leaders from industry, the Canadian Armed Forces, and government
2
Days of program, exhibits, showcase, and structured meetings
Ontario
Home to Canada's largest defence-industrial base
Annual
Held each year at RBC Place London, London, Ontario
Who Is In The Room
Prime Contractors
Defence SMEs & Suppliers
Canadian Armed Forces
Federal & Provincial Government
Procurement & Policy Leaders
Academia, Colleges & RTOs
International Delegations

What happens over two days

  • Keynotes and briefings from defence, government, and military leaders.
  • Panels on procurement direction, capability gaps, and supply chain readiness.
  • A technology showcase where companies present capability from the stage.
  • An exhibit floor of manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers.
  • Structured business-to-business meeting space.
  • Receptions and networking built into the program, not bolted onto it.

Why it matters to your members

  • A route into defence supply chains that does not require a trade-show budget.
  • Direct access to primes, buyers, and CAF capability holders in one venue.
  • Market intelligence on where Canadian procurement is heading.
  • Introductions the partner can attribute, report on, and repeat next year.
Dates, program, and speakers are published each year at bestdefence.cobestdefence.co

An alliance built on reciprocity

Alliance Partnership
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Best Defence works with organizations that can bring their community into Ontario's defence market. Partners bring real, qualified recruitment; Best Defence brings co-branded reach, a tracked route to registration, and recognition for the delegation built together. Levels are defined by the reach and recruitment a partner commits, not by a fee.

Reciprocal by intent
Both sides bring something to the table. Reach, recruitment, and the benefits that come back are shaped together with Best Defence rather than set by a fixed exchange.
Performance-based
Execution is aligned between Best Defence and the Alliance Partner. What counts as delivery, how it is measured, and what it earns are agreed together at the outset rather than fixed to a single formula.
Co-branded reach
Campaign assets and dedicated emails built with Best Defence and approved before release.
Never a back door
Alliance status does not carry sponsor branding benefits. Any conference branding or sponsorship rights are priced separately.
Who This Is For
Industry Associations
Sector Clusters & Innovation Organizations
Colleges, Universities & RTOs
Workforce & Ecosystem Organizations
At a Glance
At a glance01 · Strategic Alliance02 · Sector AllianceAdd-on · Hosted Experience
Best forLarge associations, chambers, clusters, innovation organizationsSpecialist organizations with a focused, highly relevant audienceApproved partners already planning their own event
Commitment≈2,000+ qualified contacts≈500–1,500 qualified contactsPartner covers all costs of the experience
BasisReciprocal, performance-basedReciprocal, performance-basedA module, not a level
Member discount5% registration discount5% registration discountNot applicable
RecognitionProminent delegation recognitionSector delegation recognitionCo-branded experience in the conference week
AvailabilitySubject to approvalSubject to approvalApproved Alliance Partners only

Reach figures are indicative commitments, not thresholds — the conversation starts with the audience you can genuinely reach. Every level is subject to approval by Best Defence, and all recognition is subject to conference communications standards.

Alliance or Sponsorship?

Alliance Partnership is for organizations bringing a community: you commit reach and recruitment, and earn co-branded visibility and passes on the registrations you deliver. Sponsorship is a priced package of conference branding, exhibit space, stage time, and passes — available to any organization, with or without Alliance status.

Alliance Partnership is reciprocal and performance-basedbestdefence.co
01
Alliance Level

Strategic Alliance Partner

For large associations, chambers, clusters, and innovation organizations with the reach to build a significant delegation and open direct introductions into their membership.

Indicative reach
≈2,000+ qualified contacts
Basis
Reciprocal & performance-based
Member discount
5% registration discount
Availability
Subject to approval

Who this is for

Strategic Alliance Partners are the organizations with the largest qualified reach into Ontario's industrial base — associations, chambers, sector clusters, and innovation organizations whose members are the companies Best Defence exists to connect to defence demand.

At this level the partner does more than promote the conference. It builds a named delegation and nominates the member companies that would benefit most from the conference, introducing each of them directly to Best Defence for a discovery call, with Best Defence supplying the campaign infrastructure behind it.

Ideal for organizations that

  • Represent a large membership of manufacturers, technology companies, or service providers relevant to defence and dual-use markets.
  • Can commit dedicated email campaigns to their own audience, not just a newsletter mention.
  • Are willing to nominate member companies and introduce them directly to Best Defence.
  • Want their delegation recognized as a visible bloc at the conference.

What the partner earns

  • Dedicated email campaigns to the partner's audience
  • Partner-nominated companies, introduced directly to Best Defence
  • Co-branded recruitment campaign, built with Best Defence
  • Unique tracking code for attributed registrations
  • Delegation recognition at the conference
  • Conference passes earned on actual registrations
  • A 5% registration discount for the partner's members

Strategic value

The partner's members enter Ontario's defence market through a route their own association built — with attribution, recognition, and a measurable return on the reach committed.

The Value On The Table
Market access at scale
Your members meet primes, CAF capability holders, and federal and provincial buyers in one venue, over two days.
A delegation with your name on it
Your organization arrives as a recognized bloc rather than as scattered individual registrations.
Reach you don't have to build
Best Defence supplies the campaign, the messaging, and the assets. You supply the audience.
A result you can report
Attributed registrations give you a number to take back to your board and your members.

What your members gain

  • Access to primes, systems integrators, government and military.
  • A 5% registration discount through the partner's code.
  • Market intelligence on where Canadian procurement is heading.
  • A room organized around meetings, not floor space.

What Best Defence provides

  • Co-branded campaign assets, email templates, and messaging.
  • A unique tracking code and reporting on attributed registrations.
  • The Alliance Partner Kit: approved copy, social assets, and email templates the partner’s team can publish as-is.
  • Delegation recognition on site and in conference communications.
Level 01 · Strategic Alliance PartnerAlliance Partnership · Page 4 of 7
02
Alliance Level

Sector Alliance Partner

For specialist organizations with a narrower but highly relevant audience — the same core marketing infrastructure, focused on one sector delegation.

Indicative reach
≈500–1,500 qualified contacts
Basis
Reciprocal & performance-based
Member discount
5% registration discount
Availability
Subject to approval

Who this is for

Sector Alliance Partners trade breadth for relevance. The audience is smaller than a Strategic partner's, but concentrated in one capability area — cyber, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, marine, space, AI, materials, or a comparable specialism.

The partner receives the same core campaign infrastructure as Level 01, aimed at building a single, credible sector delegation rather than a broad one.

Ideal for organizations that

  • Convene a specialist community whose capability maps directly onto defence or dual-use requirements.
  • Prefer a focused sector delegation over broad, untargeted promotion.
  • Can run email campaigns to their audience and co-brand recruitment assets.
  • Want the Alliance Partner Kit behind their own recruitment campaign.

What the partner earns

  • Email campaigns to the partner's audience
  • Co-branded recruitment campaign assets
  • Unique tracking code for attributed registrations
  • Focused sector delegation recognition
  • The Alliance Partner Kit: approved copy and social assets
  • Conference passes earned on actual registrations
  • A 5% registration discount for the partner's members

Strategic value

A specialist community arrives as an identifiable sector bloc — easier for primes, government, and the Canadian Armed Forces to find, and easier for the partner to report on afterwards.

The Value On The Table
Access without the trade-show cost
Specialist companies reach primes, CAF, and government buyers without a national trade-show budget.
A visible sector bloc
Your community arrives as an identifiable capability group, easier for buyers to find in the room.
Campaign built for you
Co-branded assets and messaging tuned to your sector, supplied by Best Defence.
A result you can report
Attributed registrations give you a clear number to take back to your members.

What your members gain

  • Access to primes, systems integrators, government and military.
  • A 5% registration discount through the partner's code.
  • Stage and showcase opportunities to present that capability.
  • Market intelligence on where Canadian procurement is heading.

What Best Defence provides

  • Co-branded campaign assets and messaging tuned to the sector.
  • A unique tracking code and reporting on attributed registrations.
  • The Alliance Partner Kit: approved copy, social assets, and email templates the partner’s team can publish as-is.
  • Sector delegation recognition on site and in conference communications.
Level 02 · Sector Alliance PartnerAlliance Partnership · Page 5 of 7
ADD
ON
Optional Module

Hosted Experience Partner

An optional module — not a status level — available to any approved Strategic or Sector Alliance Partner. It lets a partner run its own co-branded reception, dinner, breakfast, or roundtable in support of the conference, inside the official conference week.

How the add-on works

  • The partner or partner sponsor covers all costs of the experience.
  • An integration fee applies. Any waiver is announced for that year's conference.
  • Best Defence approves the timing and the venue.
  • Best Defence co-brands the experience and integrates it into the official conference week.
  • Available only to approved Alliance Partners — it is a module, not a level.

Already planning an event?

Organizations already planning a reception the night before or during the conference join here — but only from inside one of the two Alliance levels.

Compare Levels
What each level commits and earns
Commitment & benefitStrategicSector
Indicative qualified reach≈2,000+≈500–1,500
Dedicated email campaignsYesYes
Co-branded campaign assetsYesYes
Unique tracking codeYesYes
Partner-nominated companiesYesWhere relevant
Partner introduction to a discovery callYesWhere relevant
Delegation recognitionProminentSector delegation
Passes earned on registrationsYesYes
5% member registration discountYesYes
Hosted Experience add-onAvailableAvailable
Conference branding & sponsorshipPriced separatelyPriced separately
Hosted Experience Partner · Level comparisonAlliance Partnership · Page 6 of 7

How we partner

Alliance Partnership
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The Best Defence Conference has designated the Ontario Defence Association (ODA) as its primary association partner. Best Defence Conference is the Official Go-To Conference of the ODA: the ODA has designated Best Defence as its premier conference of choice, and is proud to support and partner with the conference, helping strengthen the defence ecosystem and advance meaningful connections across Canada’s defence community. Alliance Partnership is how every other association, chamber, cluster, and ecosystem organization engages the conference.

Reciprocity first
Both sides bring something to the table. What each partner contributes, and what comes back, is shaped together with Best Defence.
Qualified, unique reach
"Reach" means unique, qualified people — not newsletter circulation or social impressions.
Tracked registrations
Passes and delegation recognition are earned on actual registrations attributed to the partner's tracking code.
Delegation building
The unit of success is a delegation of real companies, not a count of impressions.
Approved communications
All partner recognition, co-branding, and communications are subject to Best Defence approval and brand standards.
Sponsorship priced separately
Alliance status does not carry sponsor branding benefits. Conference branding, exhibit space, and stage time are priced separately.
Good to Know
Official Go-To Conference of the ODA · Proud Supporter and Partner

The Ontario Defence Association is a proud supporter and partner of the Best Defence Conference, and has designated it the ODA's premier conference of choice. Best Defence is the Official Go-To Conference of the ODA. Year-round association partnership is led by the ODA at ontariodefence.ca/partners.

Let's build your delegation
Tell us about your organization, the audience you can reach, and the delegation you'd like to build.
info@bestdefence.co · bestdefence.co/partners · Conference dates and program are published annually at bestdefence.co
Contact Us
Best Defence Conference · Official Go-To Conference of the Ontario Defence Association · Proud Supporter and Partnerbestdefence.co