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Budget raises questions about defence spending targets after 2030

  • Kyle Duggan

  • Canadian Press

  • November 5, 2026

Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, shakes hands with a member of the Canadian Forces as CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston, middle, looks on at the 112th Grey Cup in Winnipeg on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

OTTAWA -- This year's federal budget leaves unanswered a major accounting question on Ottawa's plans to meet its 2035 NATO spending commitments.

The budget charts a path to meet alliance defence spending targets from now through to 2030 -- but the math stops there.

Reaching the goal of spending five per cent of national GDP on defence by 2035 won't be cheap and the target isn't being accounted for in the government's budget for core defence spending.

That spending -- for things like bullets, bombs and soldiers' salaries -- only reaches 2.6 per cent of GDP by 2030, or about $99 billion.

The government has committed to getting that sum up to 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035 -- and meeting that target will require tens of billions in additional funding each year.

This year's budget also sets aside no funding for submarines or advanced radar aircraft -- expensive military platforms that Ottawa is currently in negotiations to acquire.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2026.