Until now Colt Canada, part of the Colt CZ group, has been quite silent, letting its products speaking for the company. In early October 2026 in Copenhagen the company organised a hands-on Press Day to launch its C25 in the Old Continent; not only, at the same event Colt Canada also launched its new website as well as a new video and a new motto, “Shaped Through Service”, which announce a new era in the company visibility on the international professional small arms market
“Colt Canada has always conducted itself as sort of a quiet professional organisation. They had a very specific mission, which was serving the Canadian government and the Canadian Department of Defence, and so that was their job,” Tom Taylor, the Chief Business Development Officer for North America for the Colt CZ group, Colt Canada, Colt Optics, told the audience in its opening remarks at the Press Day organised by Colt Canada at the Københavns Skyttecenter, the Copenhagen Shooting Centre.
Its business being mostly oriented towards the Canadian Government, with exports largely handled via business-to-government agreements, as the company produced exclusively small arms destined to military and law enforcement entities. A huge difference compared to Colt as well as other major small arms manufacturers, which all have a dual market, the commercial being often bigger than the military one. This led Colt Canada to lack a marketing department. Until now! This does not mean that the Ontario-based company will expand its business to the civil market. However, there was the feeling that well into the XXI century a better knowledge of the brand would be beneficial to business.
While in many companies a product starts from an idea of experts within the company itself, this is not the case for Colt Canada: “because we are a manufacturing and engineering operation, without a big marketing department, our sole sort of modus operandi is to listen to the customer, adapt to that customer, and create the customer’s needs,” Tom Taylor, explained, hence the Shape Through Service message. Service in the meaning that the company was there to serve the Canadian government, but also that it was there to listen to the end user, the service member.
On the first week of October Colt Canada appointed for the first time a marketing leader; this, together with the launch of the new website and of the corporate video marks a new era for the Ontario company, the other novelty being having gathered over a dozen European journalists to get a full briefing on the C25, as well as a hands-on experience, with the chance to shoot both the new carbine and the 7.62 mm C20 at the Danish capital firing range, against static and moving targets, the latter courtesy of BlinkTroll of Denmark.
Prior to the Press Day, Copenhagen hosted the C7/C8 Users Club meeting, which saw representatives of many nations discussing for two days with the company, and of course putting their hands on the new C25. Colt Canada is an arctic country, so it is not surprising that many of its customers come from the same latitude or have units which train in the arctic to be ready to operate in what is becoming an area of increasing importance for the Atlantic Alliance. The increasing visibility of Colt Canada will quite probably widen the number of export customers in the near future. The presence of the C25 at UK DVD in mid-September is a clear indication that the Canadian company is proposing its new weapon for Project Grayburn, the UK assault rifle replacement programme, some 3,000 C8 rifles being in service with the British Army, including Special Forces.
For the time being the company is busy in launching the production of the C25, while two other rifles will follow in line, the C25 SharpShooter and the C26, the meeting in Denmark allowing EDR On-Line to acquire some more information on both projects, the C25 being depicted in another article.
While the C25 GS, for General Service, is entering production, the C25 Sharpshooter is still at LRIP stage, as no decision has been made by DND on this version. Adopting a longer-range rifle in 5.56 mm calibre, when the Canadian Armed Forces have in service the C20, chambered for the 7.62×51 mm NATO round might seem odd. However, Colt Canada is proposing this version, not only for Canada, leveraging the development work done for the carbine version.
The C25 Sharpshooter maintains most of the features of the shorter-barrel version, operation being only semi-automatic with a Geissele Super Semi-Automatic trigger. The barrel proposed is 18-inch (457 mm) long, however this is a company choice, a customer being able to require a different length. Produced using the same technologies adopted for the 13.7-inch barrel of the C25, the one used on the Sharpshooter is chrome lined, which further improves accuracy and durability. The MFMD suppressor of course remains. A full ambidextrous weapon, the rifle features a longer upper receiver which STANAG 4694 top rail allows adopting different aiming solutions, including day scopes with higher magnification and thermal add-on, sides featuring a 7-slot Magpul M-LOK. The stock differs, as a sharpshooter needs to adjust not only length of pull but also height, the choice falling on LMT .308 DMR Adjustable Buttstock, which brings the overall length between 986 and 1,050 mm, mass with suppressor and no accessories being 4.08 kg.
Coming to the C26, this will be the full-spectrum version of the C25, replacing the C7A2 assault rifle currently in service in Canada’s front-line units. It will maintain most of the characteristics of the C25, will have a longer barrel, no decision on this having been made yet, while Colt Canada is pushing forward on R&D to eventually add further technology insertions into this new weapon, which is being designed to engage targets up to 500 metres distance, hence a low power variable optic with higher magnification of that used on the C25 might be selected. The C26 is not yet fully developed, according to company sources, DND needs leading the finalisation of the project.
On the export side, the Danish Army is currently receiving the M25, which is a tailored C8A4. The decision to replace the existing issue rifles was taken in less than four months thanks to the work of DALO, the Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation part of the Danish Ministry of Defence; a contract for a first batch was signed in August 2025 and Colt Canada should finish deliveries by year end, a second contract doubling the number of rifles having been signed in February 2026.
The company counts on its well established C7/C8 customers base to succeed with the C25 and, in the future, with the C26.
EDR On-Line understood that considering the growth in small arms demand, Colt Canada is increasing its production capacity, no more details being provided.
Looking forward, Colt Canada is considering numerous options ranging from new calibres to soldier centric issues. “One of the natural evolutions we see is the combat soldier being able to digitally communicate with its platform, such as a Boxer, a Puma or an Ajax, exploiting the better optronics of the platform which should hand over a target to the best located soldier,” Tim Moore, Colt Canada’s International Business Development Chief, told EDR On-Line. “Adding an RFID to the rifle would allow to count the rounds, to provide the weapon status, digitising the armoury as well as the integrated logistic support. There are clever companies which are doing this, and we are actively talking to them,” he added. “We are approaching a moment that should mark the redesign of individual weapons, there is a lot of exploration to be done, and we really want to be part of that defence ecosystem,” he concluded.
Photos courtesy Colt Canada, Danish Army, P. Valpolini
