50 years
of Canadian
innovation
www.mdacorporation.com
In the 1960s, Dr. John MacDonald, a University of British
Columbia professor, and Vern Dettwiler, a UBC Physics graduate student,
became dismayed by the number of UBC engineering graduates leaving
the province to find work.
With vision, enthusiasm and some of the
brightest minds of the day, they founded
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates in
February 1969 with a goal to grow high tech
career opportunities in BC to stop the brain-
drain. They succeeded … and then some.
50 years later, MDA is a an internationally recognized leader in space
robotics and sensors, Earth observation satellites and ground systems,
satellite communications technologies, geospatial radar imagery, and
defence, intelligence and surveillance systems. The company employs
almost 2,000 Canadians at facilities in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec,
and Nova Scotia.
MDA is also credited with being a catalyst for BC's modern day high-tech
cluster that employs over 100,000 people.
From tech start-up to global leader and anchor of Canada's space
sector, MDA remains as committed to growing high tech jobs and
STEM opportunities in Canada as our founders were fi y years ago.
