Canadian military plans to boost ranks to 86,000 personnel

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The Canadian military has an ambitious plan to increase its regular force ranks to 86,000, according to a briefing for senior leaders.

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The boost in numbers, from the current 63,000 to between 84,500 and 86,000 will take decades to accomplish, according to the document obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.

The plan would see a steady climb in numbers, hitting 75,000 around 2032 and 84,500 around 2040, according to the October briefing produced for Lt. Gen. Lise Bourgon, the chief of military personnel. The ultimate goal would be approximately 86,000.

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The plan relies on the additional funding promised by the Liberal government which would see two per cent of GDP spent on defence by 2032. That would finance an intake of more than 7,150 new regular force personnel annually, the briefing noted.

There is no mention of an increase in reserve force troops. That level has been authorized at 30,000.

The document noted that in the past, military personnel have not been considered a core capability; instead the Canadian Armed Forces or CAF has focused its main efforts on getting new equipment.

Overall applications for the military have improved recently but the rate those individuals are being brought into the ranks is actually lower than before, the briefing noted.

The current authorized strength of the Canadian Forces regular ranks is 71,500, said Department of National Defence spokesman Kened Sadiku. But as of November 15, 2024, the total strength of its regular force was actually at 63,940, he confirmed.

Sadiku said from April 1, 2024, to November 15, 2024, the Canadian Armed Forces enrolled 3,357 recruits into the regular force. “The CAF is committed to achieving its recruiting objective of enrolling 6,496 members into the Regular Force for fiscal year 2024-25, which ends on March 31, 2025,” he added.

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Asked about plans to go beyond the 71,500 in regular force personnel, Sadiku noted that the military is “focused on increasing the number of trained CAF personnel by concentrating on recruiting, retention and modernizing the military personnel management system.”

He stated in an email the military is in the midst of its “reconstitution efforts” which involves “our immediate and long-term plan to grow the CAF to achieve the end strength directed by the government, and continue to deliver the desired strategic effects for Canada on all assigned operations.”

As of December, 2024 the military had launched trial programs to speed up the application process, Sadiku added. It has also improved recruiting advertising and introduced new measures to shorten medical and security screenings, he said.

But it remains to be seen whether the Canadian Forces can boost the numbers to 86,000.

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.

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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.”

Various reports done for the Canadian Forces have cited a desire for “geographic stability” and “job dissatisfaction” as reasons that personnel leave the ranks. Others include the need for more pay and benefits as well as military personnel having issues with senior or unit-level leadership.

In October 2024, the Ottawa Citizen reported that there had been a slight increase in morale in the Canadian military, but a growing workload, lack of housing and shortages of equipment continue to affect the rank and file.

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Morale had been earlier assessed as “mixed to low” by military chaplains, but that is now ranked as “mixed,” according to an Oct. 29 briefing for Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan. The briefing outlines a summary of assessments by military chaplains about the current welfare of the Canadian Armed Forces.

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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