This week, ICJP-Canada and Just Peace Advocates submitted a complaint to the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) requesting that representatives of Elbit Systems Ltd (“Elbit”) and Israel Aerospace Industries (“IAI”) be denied entry to Canada. Both companies are expected to attend CANSEC in Ottawa on May 27 – 28, 2026. This complaint was made in solidarity with local grassroots efforts to oppose CANSEC.
The complaint specifically asks CBSA to exercise its authority under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) to deny entry to Canada to all representatives of Elbit and IAI who may seek to attend CANSEC 2026.
Elbit is Israel’s largest private defence contractor. Its financial integration with Israel’s Ministry of Defence (IMOD) has intensified dramatically since October 7, 2023: the IMOD’s share of Elbit’s total revenues rose from 16% in 2023 to 28% in 2025, with Elbit itself disclosing that IMOD demand has “materially increased” since the commencement of hostilities. All of Elbit’s senior executives are physically embedded within the IMOD.
IAI is wholly state-owned. Since October 2023, IAI’s revenues have grown by over $2 billion USD (from approximately $5.33B to $7.34B), driven in significant part by military contracts.
Many IAI employees concurrently serve as Israeli military drone squadron reservists, rendering the boundary between corporate and state military activity functionally non-existent.
Canada has a duty to encourage respect for customary international law. This duty is owed to the international community as a whole and to all individuals. When it comes to suspected war crimes, CBSA has erred on the side of caution and denied people entry to Canada even in controversial situations where the armed conflict took place nearly fifty years earlier and there was no proof that the person trying to visit Canada had been involved in any offences.
Canada must uphold and apply its legal commitments and deny entry to Canada for representatives of Elbit Systems and IAI.
Press Release: ICJP Canada calls for Canada to deny genocide-complicit companies from attending Canadian Arms Fair
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TAKE ACTION: Close the Doors on Elbit and IAI: Tell CBSA to Take Action
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