Since November 2015, the Department of National Defence (DND) has spent over $9.5 million on consultants and contractors for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), according to documents.
Large portions of the money spent appears to have been directed at recruitment, which the CAF has been struggling with for some years.
The largest single contract during the period was awarded to tech giant IBM, which was given $7.23 million in 2023 for professional support aid in recruitment modernization that focused on “technology, efficiency, diversity, and candidate experience.”
Other major contracts included $71,000 to Altis Recruitment in 2023 for “Design and beta testing of the Gender-based Analysis Plus and Positive Space mid-level management and Senior Officer modular curriculum,” and $189,400 that same year to Calian Ltd. for “building the institutional gender-based analysis.”
Thousands of dollars were spent on various firms for translation services for projects “related to equity, diversity and inclusion,” while polling firms Earnscliffe and Ipsos Reid were paid over $283,000 to conduct research for CAF recruitment and to see how younger Canadians view the CAF.
Recruitment Issues
In March, Defence Minister Bill Blair spoke out about the recruitment problem plaguing the armed forces, saying that over the last three years, more people have left the CAF than entered the armed forces.“That is frankly ... it’s a death spiral for the Canadian Armed Forces, we cannot afford to continue on that pace,” Minister Blair said.
“We’re taking meaningful steps to build a more diverse and inclusive and supportive institution that can attract and retain the talent from all segments of Canadian society,” he added.
