Ontario Defence Association Official Conference of the Ontario Defence Association · Proud Supporter and Partner
 October 20–21, 2026  ·  RBC Place London, Ontario
Alliance Partnership · October 20–21, 2026

Alliance Partners

Bring your community into Ontario's defence market. 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.

ODA Official Conference of the Ontario Defence Association · Proud Supporter and Partner
Alliance Program

Partner With Best Defence

LevelsStrategic · Sector
Add-onHosted Experience Partner
BasisReciprocal & performance-based
The Model

An alliance built on reciprocity

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.

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

Organizations with a community to bring

Industry Associations
Sector Clusters & Innovation Organizations
Colleges, Universities & RTOs
Workforce & Ecosystem Organizations
Above the Program

The Official Association relationship

The Best Defence Conference has designated the Ontario Defence Association (ODA) as its primary association partner. Best Defence Conference is the Official Conference of the ODA.

The ODA has designated the Best Defence Conference as its premier conference of choice, and is a proud supporter and partner of 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.

ODA partnership pathways Looking for conference sponsorship? →

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.

2026 Alliance Levels

Two partnership levels

Levels are defined by the reach and recruitment a partner commits, not by a fee. Every level is subject to approval by Best Defence, and all recognition is subject to conference communications standards. Both Strategic and Sector Alliance Partners can extend a 5% registration discount to their members.

Level 01
Strategic Alliance Partner
≈2,000+ qualified contacts committed

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

  • 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
Discuss Level 01
Level 02
Sector Alliance Partner
≈500–1,500 qualified contacts committed

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

  • 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
Discuss Level 02

Reach figures are indicative commitments, not thresholds — the conversation starts with the audience you can genuinely reach.

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
Hosted Experience add-onAvailableAvailable
Conference branding & sponsorshipPriced separatelyPriced separately
Optional Add-On

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.

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

Discuss a hosted experience

How the add-on works

  • The partner/partner sponsor covers all costs of the experience.
  • An integration fee applies (waived for 2026).
  • 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.
Cover of the Best Defence Alliance Partnership brochure
Partnership Brochure

Download the Alliance Partnership brochure

A seven-page print-ready overview: the conference, the reciprocity model, both Alliance levels, and the Hosted Experience add-on.

Good to Know

Important partnership notes

Start the Conversation

Let's build your delegation

Heather Pilot · Founder & President
Tell us about your organization, the audience you can reach, and the delegation you'd like to build. Send a partnership enquiry →
Contact Best Defence

Bring your community to Best Defence 2026

Two days at RBC Place London connecting industry, the Canadian Armed Forces, government, and procurement leaders — and a reciprocal route for your members to enter Ontario's defence market.

Discuss Alliance Partnership