Armed Forces Members Concerned Military’s Strength, Preparedness Have ‘Diminished’: Federal Research

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces march in a parade in Calgary, Alta., in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh)

Focus group research conducted last November indicated Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and veterans were concerned about the direction Canada’s military is going in and its weakened standing compared to the past.

“All felt that the Government of Canada was currently on the wrong track when it came to addressing the priorities most important to the CAF,” said the report to the Privy Council Office (PCO) dated December 2023, as first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“[M]any felt that the strength and preparedness of the Canadian military had diminished as of late.”

In addition, “Several were of the impression that there had been numerous financial cuts to the national defence budget in recent years and that this had made it more difficult to train service members, procure necessary equipment, and engage in military and peacekeeping activities on the international stage.”

Moreover, “several were concerned that the military’s reputation would suffer if actions were not taken to prioritize and strengthen the armed forces and national defence going forward,” researchers wrote in the report titled “Continuous Qualitative Data Collection of Canadians’ Views.”

The findings were drawn from an online focus group with six participants consisting of veterans and active military members living in Eastern Ontario.

The study was conducted on Nov. 23, 2023, by pollster The Strategic Counsel in a two-hour session. It was commissioned by the PCO, which supports the prime minister and cabinet in helping the government implement its vision, goals, and decisions.

Equipment, Recruitment, Morale

Participants spoke about the need for improvement within the CAF related to equipment, recruitment, and leadership and morale.

“It was widely felt that there needed to be large-scale investments in upgrading and improving the equipment utilized by CAF personnel,” the study said. “Some reported having personally been provided with equipment that had been several decades old.”

Insufficient funding similarly took a toll on recruitment and training of new personnel, according to the participants, echoing Defence Minister Bill Blair’s remarks in March saying that the military has struggled to attract talent in recent years.

The focus group members said “diminished recruitment efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic” have caused “widespread shortages across many branches of the military.”

They added that the CAF has too many senior officers and “not enough authority being delegated to middle-ranking officers.”

“[R]elated to morale, a few were of the impression that Canadians in general did not support the CAF to the same degree that they once had,” researchers noted. “It was believed that this had negatively impacted the morale of some of those serving in the armed forces, including the sense of pride they felt by being a part of the CAF.”

On the issue of housing, many of the participants reported having faced challenges related to buying a home in the communities where they were stationed.

“A number who had been relocated in the past described having encountered difficulties in selling their old home, being required to move to areas with a higher cost of living, and an overall lack of available housing in many military communities.”

Focus group participants also said the federal government and CAF could do more to provide greater family support for service members. Examples included ensuring families would be relocated together and all armed forces members have access to services such as family doctors and dentists.

Defence Spending

The findings were released amid the ongoing issue of Canada not meeting the NATO target of at least 2 percent of gross domestic product in national defence spending. The target would require Canada to double its defence budget, from $29.9 billion for this year to about $60 billion annually.

On July 11, just hours before the conclusion of this year’s NATO summit in Washington, D.C., Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada “fully expects” to reach the alliance’s defence spending target by 2032, though he did not provide specific details on how his government plans to hit the 2 percent benchmark.

Defence Minister Bill Blair said the next day that the spending promise would amount to $60 billion a year by 2032, based on projections that Canada’s GDP will be just over $3 trillion that year. He defended Mr. Trudeau as critics threw cold water on the government’s new pledge. He said the estimated projection came from NATO, which uses models from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, of which Canada is also a member.

Records show that the federal government has been ramping up its Arctic defence of late. On July 9, Public Services and Procurement Canada confirmed in an emailed statement that the government purchased an airport hangar facility in the Northwest Territories in January. The move came as Canada and its allies increasingly focus on Arctic security amid growing strategic interest from Russia and China in the region.

On July 10, the defence department announced from the NATO summit that Canada is committed to purchasing up to 12 conventionally powered, under-ice capable submarines to defend Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic.

In its defence policy update released in April, Ottawa pledged to protect the Arctic and northern regions. Among the promised upgrades are a new satellite ground station in the Arctic, operational support hubs that will allow for a year-round northern military presence, and early warning aircraft and all-terrain vehicles that can function on ice and tundra.

In addition, the policy says the federal government would reform the country’s defence procurement system, pilot a “continuous capability sustainment approach” to upgrading equipment, speed up the recruitment processes, and adjust its personnel policies to improve retention, such as in terms of compensation and benefits, leave, and other supports for work-life balance.

“We will establish a Canadian Armed Forces Housing Strategy, rehabilitate existing housing and build new housing so that our military members can afford to live where they and their families are posted,” it said.

Andrew Chen, Jennifer Cowan, and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.