The Ontario government and federal Liberal MPs are lobbying to have the new Defence Security and Resilience Bank located in Toronto.

Premier Doug Ford has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday alongside Finance Minister Peter Bethanfalvy and chair of the Toronto federal Liberal caucus Julie Dzerowicz.

Sources told iPolitics the press conference would act as a public show of support to make Toronto the site of the bank, which is being established by NATO countries and allies in the Indo-Pacific region.

Dzerowicz, who represents the Toronto riding of Davenport in the House, told iPolitics that she wrote to her Toronto colleagues about the bank after she heard the topic come up in conversations at the recent Halifax International Security Forum.

She said the bank would act as a major lender for NATO countries like Canada seeking to ramp up defence spending to hit the agreed upon 2 per cent of GDP target.

Canada has agreed to do so by 2026, and then joined with other NATO partners in ramping up spending to hit 5 per cent by 2035.

Dzerowicz, who worked in finance and biotech before entering politics, said Toronto would be a perfect host for the bank because of its heavy concentration of industry professionals and status as one of North American’s biggest financial capitals, ranking in prominence behind only New York.

She said if Canada were to land the headquarters of the DSRB it would signal that it was “serious” about meeting its NATO spending pledges, and ensure it would become a site for major meetings on defence spending.

There would also be significant employment benefits for the city, she added, with the bank expected to bring some 3,500 jobs to whatever site serves as its headquarters.

The DSRB is slated to open at the end of 2026, and major lenders like the Royal Bank of Canada, JP Morgan and Chase and ING Group have agreed to help establish the institution.

Other outlets are reporting a decision is expected in early 2026.