Canada pledges to spend more on defence; U.S. applauds move
OTTAWA — Canada, under pressure from the United States to ramp up defence spending, on Monday pledged billions more for the armed forces and said its military expenditures would be closer to the NATO target by 2030.
In a defence policy update, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government said protecting the Arctic, as well as dealing with security challenges from Russia and China, meant Ottawa needed to beef up its defences.
“We are stepping up once again, to preserve and defend the rules-based order that has allowed people around the world to prosper for the better part of the last century,” Trudeau said in a news conference.
Canada’s military spending is set to hit 1.76 per cent of its gross domestic product by 2030, still short of the two per cent target NATO sets for member states, but up from the current 1.4 per cent. Officials told reporters there was no target date to hit the two per cent mark.
It is also unclear how much of the spending program will be put into effect, since polls show the Liberals badly trailing the official opposition Conservative Party ahead of an election that must be held by late October of 2025.
The U.S., which for years pressured Canada to boost defence spending, welcomed the update.
“The policy appears to articulate a substantial down payment toward Canada’s pledge to meet its NATO commitment ... we are also encouraged by the assurances we have received that there will be additional investments,” David Cohen, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, said in a statement.
In February, Cohen noted other nations were doing more on defence and said: “I don’t think Canada has any interest in being that kind of an outlier in NATO.”
Canada, which has an annual defence budget of around $31 billion, aims to spend an extra $8.1 billion over the next five years and a total of $73 billion more over the next 20 years.
The world’s second-largest country by territory, Canada only has 40 million people and also plays a large role in monitoring a huge Arctic territory stretching across 4.4 million square kilometres of land and water.
“The most urgent and important task we face is asserting Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic and northern regions,” the Canadian defence document said, citing the increasing ability of Russia and China to operate in the North.
Canada will invest in a network of northern operational support hubs, sensors on the coasts and under water and new tactical helicopters to replace Canada’s Griffon fleet, which will become obsolete in the next decade.
Canada aims to spend an extra $8.1 billion over the next five years and a total of $73 billion more over the next 20 years.