The federal government is upgrading facilities for the Canadian military’s counter-terrorism unit to meet its “long-term growth ... and high-readiness operational” needs, National Defence Minister Anita Anand announced March 21.
The $1.4 billion
upgrade to the Dwyer Hill Training Centre in Ottawa will add over 100,000 square feet and replace 89 aging and temporary structures with 23 new facilities. It is expected to take a decade to complete and create 2,000 jobs, Anand said, speaking from defence headquarters.
The facilities will be “net-zero ready” with fully electric systems with the federal targets for lowering carbon emissions in mind, Anand said.
The Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2), which is a unit of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, will continue training and operations throughout the renovations, which are set to begin in May.
Defence Spending
Anand told reporters the new project will more than double JTF 2’s current operational work and training capacities. She said the investment shows the government’s willingness to increase national defence spending.“We are very committed to NATO,” she said. “We will continue to ensure that we are contributing to our multilateral alliances across the board—NATO and NORAD included.”
Anand also said there has been an “upward trajectory” in defence budgeting by the government in recent years, referencing a
nearly $5 billion investment into the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) that she announced in June 2022.
However, as of the last fiscal year, Canada’s defence spending still fell below the amount NATO asks of its member countries.
NATO has
asked its members since 2006 to devote at least two percent of their GDP to national defence funding, but a 2022 NATO report showed that Canada’s military spending declined to just 1.27 percent of its GDP in 2022.
U.S. President Joe Biden
will be visiting Canada from March 23 to 24, and reporters asked Anand if the Liberal government is planning to unveil any new national defence expenditures during the president’s visit.
Anand did not directly answer the question, saying Canada will remain committed to its “multilateral alliances.”
“NATO is no exception,” she added.
Isaac Teo contributed to this report.
