Canada's military is growing at a pace not seen in decades after it was in a 'death spiral' two years ago / What are the explanations
For decades, Canada has been considered a laggard in terms of defense funding, and just two years ago the recruitment situation was so dire that a former defense minister warned that the armed forces were in a “death spiral”write BBC.
Now, the Canadian military is growing at a pace not seen in decades, reaching its largest number of recruits in 30 years and with the potential to solve the problem of the chronic personnel crisis that has plagued it.
The increase over the past two years comes at a time when the world is facing major armed conflicts and geopolitical uncertainty, and Canada is earmarking billions of dollars in new military funding after years of defaulting on its NATO obligations.
It also coincides with a surge in nationalism that has emerged since US President Donald Trump referred to Canada as the “51st state” – remarks that many saw as a threat to the country's sovereignty from its closest neighbour.
The “Trump effect”, the war in Ukraine, unemployment…
Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a researcher at the Canadian Institute of Global Affairs who studies Canada's military culture, said that while there may be a “Trump effect” behind the recent increase in enlistments, applications to join the military had already begun to rise in 2022, around the time of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“When people see that the world is not as safe anymore, that their country could be in danger … we tend to see people join the military,” she said.
Global conflicts are not the only factor driving this growth. Canada's high youth unemployment rate — which stood at nearly 14 per cent in March — and the promise of job security and higher wages after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the biggest pay increase for military personnel in a generation are also a factor, Duval-Lantoine added.
Since taking office last year, Carney has made the military a priority of his government, with what he describes as an “ambitious” plan to rapidly modernize and expand the Canadian Armed Forces.
In March, he announced that Canada had officially met the NATO target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense for the first time since the late 1980s, to more than C$63 billion ($46 billion) in a single year. Carney also joined NATO's pledge to spend up to 5% of GDP on defense by 2035.
