SAGE and Digital Rangers: two programs, one architecture
Two complementary programs in development for Canada's defence and sovereignty: one would sense what is happening across Canada's remote territory, and the other would process that information sovereignly and securely.
The architecture
The two programs are designed as different layers of the same architecture, joined at a single point of hand-off. Each can be pursued together or on its own.
| Edge | Digital Rangers Network. Would equip Canadian Rangers with modern devices, connectivity and sensors; sustain Indigenous community-owned broadband nationwide; and turn field observations into structured, machine-readable reporting. |
|---|---|
| The seam | Hand-off. Structured field reporting would be delivered to national systems for sovereign processing. This is the single point where the two programs meet. |
| Core | SAGE. Would provide hardened, kinetically resilient, Canadian-controlled compute and processing for defence and government workloads, anchored at the CFB North Bay underground facility, including the sovereign data produced at the national edge. |
SAGE
SAGE is designed to operate at the sovereign infrastructure layer. It would provide hardened, kinetically resilient, Canadian-controlled compute and processing for defence and government workloads, including the sovereign data produced at the national edge.
The proposed anchor node is the underground facility at CFB North Bay, built beneath the Canadian Shield between 1959 and 1963 for NORAD. It remains a Crown asset. Move Add Change originated SAGE and leads its development, and the program is neutral on which Canadian cloud operator would run it.
Digital Rangers Network
The Digital Rangers Network is designed to operate at the community and network access layer. It would equip Canadian Rangers and sustain Indigenous community-owned broadband nationwide, while producing structured field reporting for hand-off to national systems.
The network is designed in three parts: a mobile and fixed network, the Inuksuk extension for communications, and an open platform for sensor integration.
Where the two meet
The programs are designed to join at a single point. Structured field reporting from the Digital Rangers Network would be handed to national systems for sovereign processing through SAGE. Each program stands on its own: Digital Rangers would not perform sovereign processing, and SAGE would not operate community connectivity.
Alignment with the Ontario Defence Industrial Strategy
Both programs map onto the Ontario Defence Industrial Strategy released in May 2026. SAGE aligns with the strategy's industrial-base, frontier-technology and supply-chain pillars, and Digital Rangers aligns with its workforce foundation and export-reach pillar. The Ontario Centre of Innovation, through its Critical Technologies Initiative, is the named delivery vehicle for the frontier-technology pillar. This provincial strategy is distinct from the federal Defence Industrial Strategy.
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