The University of Victoria is getting more than $5 million from a federal agency as part of a push to advance defence innovation in artificial intelligence and aerospace in the province.

Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan), the federal economic agency dedicated to B.C., announced that it is investing $4 million in the university’s Centre for Aerospace Research to establish a satellite ground station.

Afzal Suleman, a UVic professor and the director of the Centre for Aerospace Research, told CBC News that the station will help provide more timely information from satellite data in the region.

“What we’ll have is faster access to satellite intelligence, we’ll have enhanced Arctic and Pacific domain awareness and also stronger, I would say, continental defence readiness,” he said.

The money will also go toward expanding testing facilities for aerospace and digital technologies, which UVic says will help the space industry on the West Coast develop, test, and bring these technologies to market.

PacifiCan is also investing $1.43 million in the university’s Advanced Control and Intelligent Systems Lab to advance an AI-powered drone surveying and mapping system.

Some of its civilian applications include land-use planning, infrastructure monitoring, and emergency response, particularly for smaller and remote communities, according to UVic, while defence applications include monitoring remote borders and supporting situation awareness.

“It can send a drone to a specific location without an operator being on site and then it does the mapping automatically,” Homayoun Najjaran, head of the lab, told CBC News. “The interpretation is done also by AI.”

In a statement, Victoria MP Will Greaves says the investments will create jobs in the community while “ensuring Canada has the technology needed to protect Canadians.”

The funding is part of a larger, $13.8-million investment announced Tuesday that is going to B.C. companies working on AI and aerospace technologies.