Findings from the 2026 ALLIES Industry Survey
About ALLIES
ALLIES—A Leadership Lab for Impact and Executive Sponsorship—is an industry-led initiative focused on veteran career progression after transition into civilian employment.
Convened by ADGA Group in partnership with Invest Ottawa, ALLIES brought together veterans, executive sponsors and organizations from across Canada’s defence industry to better understand what supports career development and progression, and where employers can do more.
The initiative began with a cohort of veterans and industry leaders in Ottawa and expanded through the 2026 ALLIES Industry Survey, which gathered perspectives from 84 CAF veterans working, or recently working, in Canada’s defence industry.
Participating Organizations
The Importance of Veteran Career Progression
Veterans bring operational knowledge, leadership experience, technical expertise and an understanding of the missions Canada’s defence industry supports. Considerable attention has been paid to helping CAF members transition to civilian employment and helping employers recruit veteran talent.
ALLIES set out to examine
another part of that experience:
What happens once veterans are hired?
The ALLIES Industry Survey examined:
- How military experience is recognized and leveraged
- How veterans navigate civilian career systems
- What enables or inhibits advancement
- What organizations can do to better develop veteran talent over time
The research identifies:
- Considerable evidence of successful civilian careers
- Recurring differences in how military experience is understood
- How visible career pathways are
- How consistently veterans gain access to the relationships and opportunities that support progression
STATISTICS
The Central Finding
Hiring veterans and developing veteran talent are distinct parts of the employment experience.
FOUNDATION
75%
said their military experience is valued by their organization
OPPORTUNITY
51%
said their organization does not know how to assess military leadership experience
AMBITION
64%
are likely or very likely to pursue greater responsibility if the opportunity arose
4 Things We Learned
1
Military experience is valued - but its full value is not always understood or leveraged.
Organizations can value veterans without having consistent ways to interpret military leadership, responsibility, qualifications and experience within civilian roles and advancement systems.
In Veterans’ Words
“Provide specific opportunities that capitalize on military experiences i.e. managing teams, decision making. Recognize that veterans are people who are capable of committing to something bigger than themselves […]”
2
Civilian career progression can be difficult to see and navigate.
Veterans often describe learning how advancement, internal mobility and development work through experience, observation and relationships rather than through deliberate orientation.
In Veterans’ Words
“Having leaders who looked beyond military titles and understood the scope, accountability, and complexity of my experience significantly accelerated my progression. The opposite was true when military experience was assessed only through civilian job titles or direct functional equivalencies.”
3
Relationships and visibility can support career progression.
Supportive managers, mentors, sponsors, professional networks, senior-leader exposure and opportunities to demonstrate capability repeatedly emerge as career enablers.
In Veterans’ Words
“Mentorship early on within my employment in industry […] gave me exposure to different career paths within civilian industry, and facilitated networking opportunities so I could better understand how to transition my career to different career paths.”
4
Veterans carry much of the responsibility for navigating the system.
Respondents emphasize translating their own experience, building networks, finding mentors and sponsors, communicating ambitions and advocating for development. The findings point toward shared responsibility between veterans and employers.
In Veterans’ Words
“Make time early in your new career within the defence industry to understand the different career pathways available to you… It’s not enough to simply perform your new role well, you need to advocate for yourself and make sure you are a ‘known entity’ to senior personnel.”
Creating the Conditions for Progression
The findings suggest that veteran employment should not only be considered at transition and recruitment, but must be considered across the entire employee lifecycle, which can be described as the following:
Hire
Recognize the capabilities, experience and potential veterans bring from military service.
Orient
Make the organization, career pathways, internal mobility and advancement processes easier to understand.
Recognize
Assess military experience beyond rank and occupation, including leadership scope, accountability, complexity and outcomes.
Connect
Create opportunities to build relationships with peers, managers, mentors, sponsors, networks and senior leaders.
Develop
Have meaningful career conversations and provide development, stretch opportunities and chances to demonstrate broader capability.
Advance
Continue to consider broader experience, demonstrated capability and aspirations after the initial hire.
Explore the Survey Data
The findings reflect the themes that emerged most clearly from our analysis. They are not the only questions the data can help explore.
We are making the aggregate ALLIES Industry Survey data available so employers, researchers, veteran-serving organizations and others can examine the results from different perspectives and identify additional insights.
The data could support further exploration of:
- whether veteran experience and capability are being fully utilized after hire;
- the relationship between career aspirations and access to visible pathways for advancement;
- how mentorship, sponsorship, professional networks and organizational visibility relate to career progression;
- differences across military backgrounds, civilian career stages and types of defence organizations; and
- what can be learned from veterans who have progressed successfully while also encountering barriers.
Resources
Explore recruitment networks, employment programs, and practical guidance to help employers hire and support veterans, while connecting veterans and military-connected individuals with career resources, networking opportunities, and transition support.
Employers Seeking to Hire Veterans
National Veterans Employment Strategy
CAF Transition Group National Resource Directory
Military Spousal Employment Network (MSEN)
For Defence Employers
Many of the practices identified through ALLIES are not veteran-specific programs; they are strong talent-management practices applied with greater awareness of the veteran experience.
Defence employers can use the findings to examine how effectively their existing systems orient, recognize, connect, develop and advance veteran talent.
Take the ALLIES Veteran Talent Self-Assessment
Reflect on your organization’s current practices and identify opportunities to strengthen how veteran talent is recognized, developed and advanced.
Coming soon
Acknowledgement
Special thanks to Initiate Marketing for their generous pro bono contribution to ALLIES; the design of the ALLIES findings report and accompanying webpage as part of their broader commitment to giving back and supporting the communities they serve.