Shaping Canada’s Defence Conversation: Kevin Budning’s Path from NPSIA to the CDA Institute

Kevin Budning can’t say much about one of his first jobs after earning his PhD from NPSIA. 

“I was working in a very secretive environment where you would leave your phone at the door, cover your identity in public, and never talk about your work.”  

This was at the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, where Kevin was charged with “reviewing the activities of the intelligence community to make sure that they’re complying with the law and not violating our rights as citizens.” 

While the work, which provided an independent review of secretive intelligence activities, was unquestionably important, it was a restricted environment. After a year and a bit, Kevin was keen to share ideas with the larger intelligence and defence community again. 

“I was really developing specialized expertise, but I kind of prefer being more of a generalist,” says Kevin, who as a student, wrote his dissertation on ideologically motivated extremism while leading a research project about Canadian defence policy and also consulting with a political party. 

“The wonderful part about NPSIA is that I was able to explore all of these different interests simultaneously,” he explains. “It’s a very holistic program. When I think about who was across the hall from me as a PhD student, there were faculty who specialize on Canada-U.S. relations, terrorism, intelligence, and national defence. We could dip our feet into different things and see what we like.” 

Now the Director of Scientific Research at the CDA Institute, Kevin’s job is highly public, which he’s enjoying. 

“As a researcher and a bit of an extrovert, you want to share your findings and message with others,” he says. “I probably meet 100 new people a week from the private sector, civil society, industry, media, and academia so I’m able to build relationships, convene others, and contribute to the national dialogue.” 

In addition to its holistic and practical focus, Kevin says NPSIA also has an exceptional alumni network. His current boss is Gaëlle Rivard-Piché, the Executive Director of the CDA Institute, a fellow “NPSIAn.”  

“There are intangible life lessons you get with this degree—determination, grit, resilience—and when you see it on a resume, it’s a differentiating factor,” he explains. “In my field, you discover NPSIAns everywhere. We may have graduated at different times and with different degrees, but we recognize each other by the standard of work.”