What Is Included in Canada’s New $3 Billion Aid Package for Ukraine

(L–R) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo pose for a photo during a meeting with media at Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2024. Western leaders were in the Ukrainian capital to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion. AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

Canada’s newly announced $3.02 billion in aid to Ukraine on the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion consists of military, economic, as well as humanitarian assistance.

The additional funds bring total Canadian support to Ukraine to over $13.3 billion since the war began on Feb. 24, 2022.

Aid Package

The latest funding is part of a new security cooperation agreement between Canada and Ukraine. The $3.02 billion is earmarked just for the year 2024, while the total amount committed over the 10-year agreement remains unclear.

A Feb. 24 news release from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) says the 2024 funding is to provide critical financial and military support to Ukraine this year. This includes new financial support for Ukraine to meet its balance of international payments and budgetary needs and to stabilize its economy. The funding also covers the first year of a “new multi-year military assistance commitment.”

The government has provided a breakdown of the funding for some of the lower-value assistance programs included in its aid package, representing $170 million of the $3.02 billion total. The programs involve aid in the areas of development, humanitarian, peace, security, and stabilization.

Ottawa has allocated $75 million for “new peace and security assistance,” supporting demining, cybersecurity, and intelligence efforts.

This includes $45 million for expediting demining in Ukraine, to clear communities and agricultural fields from unexploded ordnance. The remaining $30 million will sustain ongoing engagement between the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Ukrainian Intelligence Service, facilitating intelligence collection and provision of material support.

Additional funding has been allocated to security, with $4 million specifically dedicated to collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy to build counter-nuclear smuggling capabilities in Ukraine. A separate project, which received funding of $2.5 million, aims to foster community-based protection and effective civil-military engagement.

To counter potential threats related to chemical weapons, $750,000 in funding aims to enhance the capacity of Ukrainian first responders in prevention, detection, and response.

A total of $15 million will go toward a Canada-International Finance Corporation facility, part of the World Bank Group, focused on mobilizing private-sector capital to enhance Ukrainians’ food security, food system resilience, and well-being by improving food availability and affordability. The facility will address financing needs and strengthen agricultural production and agri-food supply chains. This funding will also support MHP, a Ukrainian agribusiness group that produces and exports poultry, produces grain, and processes meat for both domestic and international markets.

Another $15 million is earmarked for “new preservation assistance,” specifically to help complete the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv, the capital. The museum is dedicated to commemorating the victims of the Soviet starvation campaign in Ukraine in 1932 and 1933, which took millions of lives.

‘Gender-Responsive Priorities’

The aid package emphasizes “gender-responsive” priorities in several areas.

This includes $10 million for local development and reconstruction efforts in Ukraine’s “hromadas,” or municipalities. The funding will support up to five hromadas to implement “inclusive, gender-responsive, and durable community priorities” through grants and capacity-building training, says the PMO news release.

Another $4 million is being allocated to a demining project that is specifically “gender-inclusive.” “Project activities include conducting non-technical surveys and subsequent manual clearance in targeted communities; providing capacity building to key national stakeholders; and establishing a gender and diversity working group to promote gender-transformative mine action in Ukraine,” the government says.

Additionally, part of a $930,000 funding earmarked for “strengthening truth, transparency, and democracy to counter disinformation” will go toward addressing “gender disparity issues in the Ukrainian media.”

Trudeau: ‘Canada’s Support Is Unwavering’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the funding announcement on Feb. 24 while in Kyiv, where he was visiting alongside several other world leaders to mark two years since the start of the war.

“Two years on, Ukrainians are resolute as they defend democracy, freedom, and their identity–and Canada’s support is unwavering,” Mr. Trudeau said in the release. “We will stand with Ukraine with whatever it takes, for as long as it takes.”

This is Mr. Trudeau’s third visit to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022. He was accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Defence Minister Bill Blair.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for Canada’s $3.02 billion aid in a Feb. 24 social media statement.

“I am grateful to [Justin Trudeau] and all Canadians. You have stood with Ukraine from the first days of the full-scale war. It is very valuable to us,” he wrote.

Previous Aid

Since the beginning of 2022, Canada has committed over $13.3 billion in funding to support Ukraine, according to the PMO’s news release.

This includes $4 billion in military assistance, which encompasses a variety of military equipment dispatched to Ukraine. This includes M777 howitzers, Leopard 2 main battle tanks, armoured combat support vehicles, hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, high-resolution drone cameras, thermal clothing, body armour, fuel, and other essential supplies.

Of the $13.3 billion, $7.4 billion has been allocated as financial support to Ukraine, stated the release. No specific details were provided.

In addition, Canada has committed $352.5 million toward humanitarian assistance, including support for emergency health interventions, protection services, and essentials such as shelter, water, sanitation, and food. The Feb. 24 announcement included details of a $22.5 million portion of that $352.5 million.

The $22.5 million funding includes $10 million for the World Food Programme for immediate food support and $5 million for the United Nations Refugee Agency to aid internally displaced persons and other persons of concern. It also includes $4 million for the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, which directs resources to respond to the critical needs of conflict-affected populations; and $3.5 million for the International Committee of the Red Cross, to provide protection, emergency relief, and other essential services.

Global Affairs Canada noted in a Feb. 24 statement that Canada’s $352.5 million humanitarian assistance in the past two years has provide life-saving support to Ukraine and its neighbours, with the majority of the funding directed toward front-line communities in the south and east of Ukraine.

Global Affairs added that the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel program has provided extended temporary status to over 220,000 Ukrainians since its launch in March 2022.