Meanwhile, Canada’s government recently announced an ambitious new defence budget that Our Government’s 2023 budget continues our work to better equip the Canadian Armed Forces and address emerging global security challenges. This landmark initiative, unveiled by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, includes a new research agency called BOREALIS, which will receive $68.2 million in funding over the next three years. On a cash basis, the budget does show a significant new topline figure of $81.8 billion over the next five years. This would be a historic commitment to national security.
The Government of Canada is committed to modernizing its military infrastructure and capabilities. It promises to spend 1.5% of the country’s budget on defence-adjacent sectors such as emergency preparedness and another 3.5% on core defence requirements. The wide-ranging budget allocates $30 billion to military-related capital spending, described as the biggest investment in defence in decades. This massive increase made even more substantial due to accompanying fiscal factors clearly demonstrates Canada’s intent to raise its military preparedness as world tensions rise.
For their part, Canada has raised their total budget. On top of that, the country has committed $17.9 billion over the next five years to improve the military’s responsiveness. This decision upholds Canada’s pledge to meet NATO’s recently adopted guideline of 1.5% of GDP for defense spending by 2023. It’s all part of a bigger plan to achieve 5% by 2035. The budget calls for $9 billion in already announced spending. This funding helps meet NATO’s baselines recommendation to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense.
David Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, characterized the budget as a “really significant injection of funding.” He was adamant that this financial commitment marks a big shift for Canadian defence policy after years of underfunding.
Hundreds of millions of dollars go to advancing quantum technology and developing critical minerals in the budget. This investment reaffirms Canada’s historic commitment as a leader in military innovation. Furthermore, $6.6 billion is set aside for the upcoming Defence Industrial Strategy, marking a new emphasis on Canadian domestic production and procurement.
Yet, full of such grand plans, we remain worried about the state of our military infrastructure and in particular, that aging infrastructure. As the Auditor General has pointed out, most of these facilities require major repair. This should alarm Americans across the spectrum about the long-term sustainability of our military readiness.
Canada is making the biggest investments in international relations in a generation. They’ve budgeted $6.2 billion for these “defence partnerships,” first and foremost military assistance to Ukraine. This allocation highlights Canada’s ongoing commitment to improving allies’ security, while increasing Canada’s security cooperation around the world.
The budget adds another $20.4 billion over five years for disaster-related military recruitment and retention initiatives. This funding is focused on increasing personnel strength as we continue to experience challenges in obtaining and retaining a relevant armed forces presence. On top of that, the government has already spent $19 billion just maintaining the status quo capabilities and infrastructure we have.
In contrast to previous administrations that earmarked only $7.9 billion for National Defence over a five-year period, this new budget reflects a marked shift in priorities towards national security.
“You do one thing, but at the same time you can pivot and do something else and I think we need to make sure that our defence investments serve first and foremost Canadians and that’s what we’re going to do.” – François-Philippe Champagne
Champagne’s statement reaffirms the federal government’s dedication to put the defense needs of Canadians first. Simultaneously, they seek to address broad security issues. He elaborated on the budget’s implications for northern communities, stating, “In the 1.5 per cent … I think for Canada, this is going to be a way for us to build infrastructure in the North that northern communities will welcome.”
While these are the right, and perhaps most important, steps forward, some experts are cautious about the omens for the future direction of Canada’s military. David Perry pointed out potential uncertainties regarding the long-term vision for the Canadian Armed Forces as a result of recent funding increases.
“It’s just kind of a curious lack of direction of what the Canadian military will look like by 2030 as a result of big injections of funding from (former prime minister) Justin Trudeau and now from Mark Carney.” – David Perry
The new funding measures address an unprecedented level of security needs directly. Simultaneously, they set the stage for the future combat power of the Canadian Armed Forces. The government is counting on infrastructure spending planned by federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments to raise the amount spent on defence to NATO’s 1.5% pledge.
