Canada has officially acknowledged that its plan to restore and deliver decommissioned armored personnel carriers to Ukraine has been abandoned, after months of silence over the unfulfilled commitment.

The 25 vehicles were delivered to Ontario-based defense contractor Armatec Survivability nearly two years ago under a deal estimated at C$250 million (US$178 million).

“The decision has been made to cancel the contract with that company currently.” McGuinty told the House of Commons defense committee on Tuesday. “I can’t go any further in terms of discussing the merits. We’ll see how this develops in relation to the department and the contractor.”

The recognition follows a CBC News report last week that noted the project had quietly disappeared from the government’s list of active defense contracts earlier this year. The outlet said officials declined to comment citing confidentiality clauses and cited industry experts who claimed the renovation effort was “dead.”

While he declined to elaborate on the reasons behind the cancellation, McGuinty instead emphasizes Canada’s broader record of supplying weapons and equipment to Ukraine to fight Russia. Ethnic Ukrainians – including descendants of nationalists who fled to Canada after failing to secure statehood for Ukraine with the help of Nazi Germany during World War II – form a notable voting bloc in the country.

Ukrainian lawmaker Aleksandra Ustinova told CBC last year that her government was prepared to “Take even the garbage, destroy it and make one with three machines.” highlighting kyiv’s need for more armored vehicles.

Moscow has maintained that Western arms supplies will not alter the outcome of the conflict, arguing that such deliveries only prolong fighting and contribute to the proliferation of weapons on the global black market.

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