Ottawa-based Calian GNSS is pausing shipments of GPS antennas destined for Elbit, an Israeli defence firm, after shipping some last weekend, the company told CBC News in a statement.

“Given recent announcements by our Government and others regarding continued concerns for the region, Calian has paused this shipment and all future shipments until further notice,” said Calian’s corporate communications director Shelley MacLean.

The move comes after four NGOs released a report that examined Israeli import data and publicly available shipping records. It appeared to contradict the Canadian government’s claims that it has not allowed arms shipments to Israel since January 2024.

Calian told CBC one shipment made its way from the company’s manufacturing site in Ottawa to a facility in Montreal, where Elbit will “work with the Canada Border Services Agency to export.” Calian said any future shipments are now paused.

Both Calian and Global Affairs Canada told CBC that GPS antennas are not used exclusively for military purposes.

“Our GNSS components, such as GPS patch antennas are commercial grade, dual use commonly found in applications like agriculture, transportation, telecommunications, and survey equipment,” MacLean said.

She said shipping the antennas would not have required an export permit as they are not controlled products, and added the company has reached out to the Canadian government to ensure they “are aligned on shipments to military organizations in the area and address any changes in policy they wish to make.”

In its statement to CBC News, Global Affairs wrote GPS antennas “are common civilian technology. As such, they are not generally subject to export controls by Canada or any of our allies.

“While some military or dual-use technology related to GPS are controlled, we confirm that there are no valid permits in place related to  the alleged transaction,” the department added.

It also said that Elbit is not just a defence contractor but also manufactures products for “civilian commercial activities.”

Elbit Systems did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News. On its website, it calls itself a “leading global defense technology company, delivering advanced solutions for a secure and safer world.”

The sizzle reel greeting visitors to its main webpage shows video of explosions, a missile launcher, drones and fighter pilots.

Parts ‘fuel Israel’s war machine,’ activist says

In a statement, one of the groups behind the report told CBC News that Calian only stopped the shipments because it was caught “red-handed.”

“By claiming to pause future shipments of GPS antennas to Elbit Systems, Calian is effectively accepting that they knew these parts — specifically destined for the ‘Electronic Warfare and Signal Intelligence’ facility — fuel Israel’s war machine,” wrote Rachel Small, with the group World Beyond War.

“They are scrambling to cover their tracks,” she added.

Small said either Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand “misled the public,” or Calian is “breaking the law.” Her group is calling for the antennas and “hundreds of other shipments of military goods to Israel” to be stopped and the suppliers to be held accountable.

In an interview recorded with CBC News before Calian released its statement about suspending shipments, Small said there are serious questions about the end use of the antennas.

“They’re critical for weapons targeting. Almost any high-tech weapons system you can imagine these days has a GPS component and requires the use of such antennas. They’re a staple of military weapon systems that are being used right now,” she said.

“Canada has not been able to show that it has a clear mechanism to monitor the end use of the military cargo that they’re sending to Israel,” said Yara Shoufani of Palestinian Youth Movement, another of the groups behind the initial report.

Elbit made headlines in Canada in February when organizers of the country’s largest fiction-writing prize, the Giller, cut ties with longtime sponsor Scotiabank after more than a year of protests by members of the literary community over the bank’s stake in Elbit.