Canada's military, once warned by a former defense minister that it was in a recruitment "death spiral," is now drawing recruits at a pace not seen in 30 years. More than 7,000 people signed up in the last fiscal year, with nearly 100,000 applications filed overall, as the country pours billions into defense, hits NATO's 2%-of-GDP spending target for the first time since the 1980s, and promises its largest pay increase for troops in a generation. Analysts point to a mix of factors, the BBC reports: Russia's war in Ukraine, global instability, high youth unemployment, and what one expert calls a possible "Trump effect" after its neighbor's president urged making Canada the "51st state."
Prime Minister Mark Carney has made rebuilding the armed forces a central project, boosting salaries, digitizing a once-clogged application system, and opening the door to permanent residents; foreign nationals account for roughly one-fifth of new recruits. Still, defense specialists caution Canada remains well behind allies in what it can actually field, and say it may be five to 10 years before the new money and manpower translate into real capability. Ottawa is now planning for an expanded regular force of 85,500 and a reserve mobilization pool of up to 300,000. "When people see that the world is not as safe, that their country might be at risk … we tend to see people join the military," said Charlotte Duval-Lantoine of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
- The government breaks down the changes and numbers here.
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