How Ottawa plans to recruit more soldiers

Eligibility requirements been softened, more funding for housing, child care

Canada aims to grow its military to 71,500 regular members over the next eight years by addressing long-standing recruitment and retention problems, according to an updated defence policy announced Monday.

The new strategy builds on several recently announced policies that softened the Canadian Armed Forces’ eligibility requirements, adding new funding for military housing, child care, and efforts to digitize services and increase the number of civilian specialists, although most of that funding will come more than five years down the line.

It’s also the latest effort by Justin Trudeau’s government to address the CAF’s shortfall of approximately 15,000 members, which Defence Minister Bill Blair has previously described as a “death spiral.”

But while $2.7 billion has been earmarked for reforming personnel policies and modernizing recruitment over the next two decades, and $538 million in new funding is slated for the next five years, only $20 million is expected to be included in the upcoming federal budget, which will be unveiled April 16.

“I very sincerely believe that there are Canadians and permanent residents right across this country who want an opportunity to serve their country and to serve in the Canadian Armed Forces,” Blair told a news conference at CFB Trenton this week. “We’ve got to make sure that we modify our processes to ensure that they are given that opportunity quickly.”

The CAF has struggled with recruitment amid pandemic labour shortages and criticism of its handling of sexual misconduct.

The new strategy blames a faulty and outdated recruitment process and increasing pressures on current members for Canada’s inability to maintain an appropriately sized force.

“We’ve seen over the past number of years, actually more people have left than have actually joined the Canadian Armed Forces,” Blair said. “If someone has to wait 18 months, they’ve moved on to other opportunities.”

The new policy, he said, provides the resources required to ensure Canada’s military is ready for the rapidly changing world.

In hopes of easing the pressures military members face due to frequent moves and deployments, the government is earmarking $295 million over 20 years in housing support, although only $7 million will come in the next five years. It will also invest $100 million over five years to improve child care for military families, and spend $497 million over the next two decades on developing an electronic health records platform.

“These investments will ensure the Canadian Armed Forces recognizes and rewards military members and their families for the sacrifices that they make in the service of Canadians, which will in turn lead to a more diverse, efficient and operationally effective military,” the policy reads.

The military hopes increased recruitment will also come through the establishment of a Canadian Armed Forces Cyber Command in partnership with the country’s cyberspy agency, which will get $2.8 billion over the next two decades.

The policy update says the CAF will use digital technology to “modernize” its recruitment processes, and implement measures to streamline security clearance and create a probationary period to enrol recruits faster, although no new funding has been specifically dedicated for those changes.

In an effort to increase its civilian workforce, the military will spend $1.8 billion in the next 20 years, although again, only a fraction — $150 million — will come in the next five.

That largely back-loaded funding plan drew criticism from the opposition Conservatives, who noted most of it would arrive after the next two elections.

“Instead of ‘exploring options,’ the brave women and men in the Canadian Armed Forces need new kit, better training and investments in their futures today, not 20 years from now,” Conservative defence critic James Bezan said in a statement.

The renewed focus on recruitment and retention builds on recently announced measures to loosen dress requirements, hire permanent residents, and accept recruits with medical conditions, as part of ongoing efforts to overhaul the military’s culture and diversify the force. Such issues were addressed in the last military strategy released in 2017, although efforts to address recruitment failed to materialize and were hampered by the pandemic.

‘‘

I very sincerely believe that there are Canadians and permanent residents right across this country who want an

opportunity to serve their country and

to serve in the Canadian

Armed

Forces. BILL BLAIR DEFENCE MINISTER