Boosting Recruitment a Top Priority for New Canadian Military Chief

Lt-Gen. Jennie Carignan stands before the start of a Canadian Armed Forces change of command ceremony at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa on July 18, 2024. She was officially named the new Chief of the Defence Staff, replacing Gen. Wayne Eyre. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Canada’s new Chief of the Defence Staff General Jennie Carignan says her foremost priority is replenishing the ranks of the military.

As Ottawa pushes to update and replace key military hardware, Gen. Carignan noted new equipment is only good if there are people to operate it.

“The priority is to make sure that we welcome a whole range of Canadian expertise and quality people to ensure that we have the people we need to render our forces ready to crew all of these platforms,” she said at a press conference after replacing Gen. Wayne Eyre as the Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).

Gen. Carignan is inheriting an organization plagued by recruiting and retention issues that were compounded during the COVID-19 years.

According to figures provided by the Department of National Defence, the CAF saw a net loss of nearly 6,500 troops, regular force and primary reserve combined, between April 2020 and March 2023.

Personnel issues prompted Gen. Eyre to issue an order halting non-essential activities in October 2022 to focus on force reconstitution. He also lifted mandatory COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment at that time.

Earlier this year, Defence Minister Bill Blair called the personnel situation a “death spiral” and said the military was short nearly 16,000 troops.

Gen. Eyre, however, expressed optimism when he testified before a House of Commons committee in May, noting the new recruiting strategy was “bearing fruit.”

In fiscal year 2023–2024, the regular force saw a net growth of 210 troops, and the reserve grew by 1,018.

Gen. Carignan said there’s a specific plan guided by science to fill the occupational vacancies, but there are a number of factors that can’t be predicted.

When asked why Canadians are not joining the CAF, the new military chief said there are multiple factors.

“We go to certain communities and people don’t know they can join the forces,” she said.

Mr. Blair, speaking to reporters after Gen. Carignan, said his department’s plan is to reach full military staffing by 2032.

Part of the plan involves speeding up the recruiting process by implementing a probationary period during which steps of the onboarding process such as fitness tests and security checks can be completed, he said.

“It would give people an appropriate chance, they could come in and begin their training ... we’re not sharing state secrets with them,” said Mr. Blair.

The date 2032 has also been advanced by Ottawa as the target to reach the NATO defence spending guideline of 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement on the final day of the NATO Summit in Washington last week.

The government’s defence policy update released in April had a lesser spending target of 1.76 percent of GDP on defence by 2029–2030.