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In 2006 Canada intended to own strategic lift aircraft. The government wanted to offer a supplement to the rental of Russian IL-76s and super-giant AN-124s under NATO’s SALIS partnership et. al., and get themselves out of the international queue. To achieve that, they planned to spend C$ 1.8 billion (USD$ 1.6 billion) for total procurement costs, plus C$ 1.6 billion anticipated for 20 years of in-service support. The contract was conducted as an Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN), in which the government picks its desired winner (the C-17) and asks contractors to show it something that wows them more. Obviously, unless you’re the preferred choice, the odds are rather poor – even a leased BC-17 solution with “Canada first” priority and basing was rejected as unqualified.
In October 2006 a number of the key ancillaries followed: engines, defensive systems, spares, et. al. Now Boeing and the Canadian government have formalized the direct commercial sale (as opposed to a foreign military sale) of four C-17 airframes to complete the contract. The planes may be available as early as fall-winter 2007, as a result of a production order swap and accompanying emergency usage rights negotiations with the USAF. Canadian DND release | Boeing release.