Troops say quality of life is dropping, according to new DND report

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Less than a third of Canadian military members surveyed by the armed forces feel that organization provides a reasonable quality of life for them and their families, according to a new defence department report.

The latest version of DND’s departmental results report showed the number of military staff who have positive views of the Canadian Forces as an employer continues to drop.

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The report noted that in fiscal year 2022-2023, the percentage of military personnel who felt that the Canadian Forces provided a reasonable quality of life for them and their families was 43.2 per cent. But in the 2023-2024 period that dropped to 30.4 per cent. The Canadian Forces had set a target of 85 per cent that it wants to achieve in this area, according to the report released on Dec. 17.

The percentage of military personnel who felt positive about their jobs in 2022-2023 was 60.9 per cent. That dropped slightly to 57.7 per cent. Back in the 2021-2022 period, the figure was 62.5 per cent. The Canadian Forces had set a target to achieve in this area of 85 per cent.

The report also noted that the percentage of Canadian military members who are satisfied with the overall support their family receives from the armed forces has also dropped. In 2022-2023 that figure was 64.3 per cent. For the 2023-2024 period it is 57.7 per cent.

DND spokesman Nick Drescher Brown noted in an email statement that in October 2022, National Defence launched a new retention strategy to better support military members by responding to their emerging and changing needs. ‘’The strategy aims to improve the experiences of CAF members and their families, so they feel supported and empowered to continue a challenging and extremely rewarding career in uniform,’’ he added.

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 Canadian Forces senior leadership often talks about how important military personnel are to the institution, but soldiers have expressed skepticism about whether to actually believe such claims.

A recent briefing compiled by military chaplains for Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan warned of several persistent issues that continue to affect morale negatively. Those include ongoing shortages in staff, equipment and resources, lack of affordable housing and an increased cost of living. In certain regions, the shortage of child-care spaces and difficulties in finding a doctor are also hurting morale among military families, according to the Oct. 29 briefing produced by the chaplains and obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.

Ongoing personnel shortages in the Canadian Forces have also affected available support services in some areas. Those include medical, mental health and dental clinics. That, in turn, further contributes to the perception that the senior Canadian Armed Forces leadership is not adequately taking care of its personnel, the chaplains warned.

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The lack of employment for spouses after personnel have been moved to a new region is also creating financial hardships, the chaplains pointed out. “Some members have resorted to taking on secondary employment to provide for their families,” the briefing noted. “While recent pay increases have been welcomed, financial stress continues to be a significant issue and is expected to persist in the foreseeable future.”

The Liberal government and military leadership has talked about rebuilding the Canadian Forces in what has been called a reconstitution effort. The goal is to at least rebuild the ranks to 71,500 in the regular force and 30,000 in the primary reserves, according to the departmental results report.

Defence Minister Bill Blair, in his message included in the report, heralded the reconstitution initiative. “The Defence Team is making progress accelerating the recruiting process, and we are continuing to do more to rapidly address the gap between the CAF’s current and authorized force size,” he said.

But the departmental results report contradicts Blair’s claims about the various measures and how they have contributed to the initiative. “Despite these measures, reconstitution efforts were not as successful as anticipated,” the report added.

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No explanation was provided about the disconnect between Blair’s message and the report’s findings.

In April 2024, a top advisor to the chief of the defence staff warned that Canada’s soldiers were leaving the ranks because of toxic military leadership.

Canadian Forces Chief Warrant Officer Bob McCann flagged his concerns during an April 23 meeting in which he appealed for changes in how leaders dealt with lower ranks.

Job dissatisfaction and repeated moves to new locations across the country have been cited in past military reports as the top reasons that Canadian Forces personnel leave.

But McCann, who advises the chief of the defence staff on issues relating to non-commissioned members, said personnel weren’t just quitting because they were being moved to locations they did not want to be.

“A lot of our members leave this organization not necessarily because they are not going where they want to be,” he explained to the audience of officers during a virtual town hall. “They leave because of toxic leadership or bad leadership. This is one aspect that we need to address if we are going to support our members better as they serve.”

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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