A potential trilateral defence and security partnership between Canada, Germany and Norway could include cooperation on certain projects such as submarines, CBC News reported.

Canada, under pressure to meet NATO’s 2 per cent defence-spending benchmark, has suggested more purchases are coming, and submarines are often cited as one of those possible purchases, CBC said, adding the Liberal government's recent defence policy promises to "explore options" for replacing Canada's aging fleet of Victoria-class submarines.

Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair acknowledged he and his German and Norwegian counterparts have been in discussions about cooperation, according to the CBC report.

Blair said a letter he received from German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius was primarily about “working more closely together on various military procurements,” and the letter “mentioned specifically a submarine that [Germany and Norway] are working on together,” the CBC reported. The report said Germany and Norway are building new submarines, designated as the 212CD, which are based on the German Type 212A design.