Defence
Ottawa officer removed after army learned of antisemitic, homophobic 'Blue Hackle Mafia' group

Ottawa officer removed after army learned of antisemitic, homophobic 'Blue Hackle Mafia' group

The head of the Canadian Army has temporarily removed the commanding officer of the Cameron Highlanders in Ottawa after discovering a Facebook group with "abhorrent" content. As CBC News reported earlier this month, the Canadian Armed Forces has been investigating what was called the "Blue Hackle Mafia" group, which the army said was littered with "racist, misogynistic, homophobic and antisemitic...

Canadian companies gear up for a big boost in defence spending

Canadian companies gear up for a big boost in defence spending

The Carney government’s new focus on military spending presents an opportunity for Canadian industries to secure major new lines of business and lucrative contracts On a Tuesday morning in late June, a crowd of investors, government officials, entrepreneurs and bankers huddle in a small conference room on the 53rd floor of the TD Bank Tower in downtown Toronto to mull...

Defence spending will lift Canada's economy, but not out of a recession: report

Defence spending will lift Canada's economy, but not out of a recession: report

Ottawa's ramped up defence-spending plans will give the economy a lift, but not enough to save it from a recession, a newly released report forecasts. The updated analysis from Oxford Economics published Wednesday projects that Canada's defence spending commitments will raise the country's real gross domestic product by a tenth of a percentage point this year and next.

Canada’s $150B Defence Plan Shouldn’t Come at the Cost of Peace
DND to start construction on F-35 hangars despite review

DND to start construction on F-35 hangars despite review

Officials confirmed that building new infrastructure for the F-35s will cost more than $2 billion.

As we grow the Canadian military, veterans who need support still struggle

As we grow the Canadian military, veterans who need support still struggle

Pride in service is a defining part of what it means to be Canadian. Our freedoms, our way of life, and our reputation around the globe have all been shaped and protected by the men and women who have served in uniform. Our nation’s capital is home to more than 24,000 regular and reserve Canadian Armed Forces members and civilian...

How Canada’s military can increase its recruitment

How Canada’s military can increase its recruitment

While Canada has pledged to invest five per cent of its GDP to defence by 2035, one expert says the military will need to address staffing shortages, low recruitment levels and commit to internal reorganization if they actually want to hit that target. In an interview with CTV Your Morning on Monday, David Fraser, CTV military analyst and a retired...



Borrowing for Battle: Canadians Prefer Debt to Taxes in Military Spending

Borrowing for Battle: Canadians Prefer Debt to Taxes in Military Spending

Forty-nine percent of Canadians report that they would either support (15%) or somewhat support (34%) increasing the national debt if the funds were used to increase Canada’s military capacity. Conversely, 46 percent say they would somewhat oppose (22%) or oppose (24%) increasing the national debt to fund an increase in Canada’s military capacity. Respondents aged 55 and over are more...

U.S. helicopter maker settles with families of 6 Canadian military members killed in crash

U.S. helicopter maker settles with families of 6 Canadian military members killed in crash

An American helicopter manufacturer has reached a confidential settlement with the families of six Canadian military members killed in a helicopter crash off the coast of Greece five years ago. The families sued Sikorsky in 2023 after a CH-148 Cyclone flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force crashed into the Ionian Sea at full speed in April 2020.

Mark Carney needs to explain to Canadians how we’re going to pay for our national defence

Mark Carney needs to explain to Canadians how we’re going to pay for our national defence

It wasn’t so long ago that Canada perennially cashed in on its so-called “peace dividend.” The logic went like this: while our tanks might rust, the salaries of our Armed Forces members stagnate, and our ammunition stockpiles dwindle, the government could reallocate military spending toward areas of more immediate concern — entitlement programs, infrastructure and other “flavours of the day.”

Defence minister calls extremist plot charges 'disturbing,' insists military culture is changing

Defence minister calls extremist plot charges 'disturbing,' insists military culture is changing

Defence Minister David McGuinty called allegations that military members were part of an extremist plot "disturbing," but pushed back against accusations the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) isn't doing enough to change its culture. The minister briefly spoke to reporters Thursday on the sidelines of a change-of-command ceremony. They were his first public comments since the RCMP charged four men, including...

Defence expected to find operational savings even as its budget balloons

Defence expected to find operational savings even as its budget balloons

The Department of National Defence will not be spared from Prime Minister Mark Carney's cost-cutting drive -- even though overall defence spending is set to balloon in the coming years. Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne sent letters to cabinet ministers Monday asking them to find savings of 7.5 per cent in their budgets starting in fiscal 2026, a spokesperson for the...

How Canada’s shift to the EU may provoke fallout with Trump

How Canada’s shift to the EU may provoke fallout with Trump

Canada’s ambitious strategy to turn to the European Union to wean itself off American dependency for military equipment could be difficult to deliver and result in political fallout, warns former defence and security officials in a new report. After assessing the political and fiscal risks of the Canada-EU Security and Defence Partnership, signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney in Brussels...

Canadians Show Growing Support for Military and Defence Spending

Canadians Show Growing Support for Military and Defence Spending

Our national survey reveals an increase in Canadians’ positive impressions of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), alongside growing trust in their ability to defend the country. There is also strong public support for the government’s commitment to increased defence spending. While Canadians prioritize domestic roles for the CAF, such as defending national territory and responding to natural disasters, they also...

A major defence contract is set to favour U.S. supplier, despite Carney's promise to diversify

A major defence contract is set to favour U.S. supplier, despite Carney's promise to diversify

Competitor warns criteria for night-vision binoculars dramatically limit who can bid. The federal government is set to proceed with awarding a major defence contract despite industry concerns that its requirements are written in a way that all but assures a single American company is eligible. A tender for night-vision binoculars — worth more than an estimated $100 million — is...

Canada should consider hiking GST, other taxes to pay for defence-spending boost: analysts

Canada should consider hiking GST, other taxes to pay for defence-spending boost: analysts

A steep new military spending commitment for Canada – the biggest increase in more than 70 years – has handed Mark Carney’s government a fresh challenge: how to pay for it. At the June, 2025, NATO leaders’ summit, the Prime Minister pledged that Canada will spend as much as $150-billion annually on defence within a decade: equivalent to 5 per...



Ex-fighter jet pilot Stephen Fuhr is on a mission to change how we arm the military

Ex-fighter jet pilot Stephen Fuhr is on a mission to change how we arm the military

Not that long ago, former air force fighter pilot Stephen Fuhr was just one among many voices in Canada complaining about the way the federal government makes big defence purchasing decisions. At no point, he said, did it occur to him that he would wind up in his current position - as the prime minister's point person for fixing Canada's...

More soldiers, more money. Canada's top soldier extols benefits of spending boost

More soldiers, more money. Canada's top soldier extols benefits of spending boost

Canada's top soldier is looking forward to a boost in military spending that includes a pay raise for military personnel at a time when uncertainty on the world stage is high. NATO leaders -- including Canada -- have approved a plan to dramatically increase defence spending across the Western alliance to five per cent of gross domestic product over the...

Army says it's investigating 'abhorrent' racist, homophobic and antisemitic Facebook group

Army says it's investigating 'abhorrent' racist, homophobic and antisemitic Facebook group

CAF says members involved with 'Blue Hackle Mafia' could be punished. The Canadian Army is investigating members who allegedly shared what the country's top soldier called "abhorrent" content within a private Facebook group. According to a statement from Lt.-Gen. Mike Wright, the "Blue Hackle Mafia" group featured "racist, misogynistic, homophobic and antisemitic comments and images."

Defence spending to add 'staggering' sum to deficit by 2035, think tank warns

Defence spending to add 'staggering' sum to deficit by 2035, think tank warns

The C.D. Howe Institute predicts Ottawa's recently announced spending plans -- which include a much bigger defence budget -- will drive its deficits markedly higher in the coming years. In a new analysis released Thursday, the think tank said it expects Canada's deficit to top $92 billion this fiscal year, given Prime Minister Mark Carney's plan to meet NATO's defence...

Is Canada beating ploughshares into swords with its NATO 5% pledge? Not likely

Is Canada beating ploughshares into swords with its NATO 5% pledge? Not likely

Government has levers it can pull in times of urgency. By anyone's measure, $150 billion a year is an eye-watering amount of money to spend on anything — let alone defence. While it pales in comparison to the inflation-adjusted appropriations of the Second World War, it is potentially, for this generation, the very definition of beating ploughshares into swords. Or is it?

It won’t be easy but here is how Mark Carney can pay for his promise to hike defence spending

It won’t be easy but here is how Mark Carney can pay for his promise to hike defence spending

Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney and our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies agreed to a new defence investment pledge — investing 5 per cent of annual gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035. That figure includes 3.5 per cent on core military capabilities and 1.5 per cent on defence and security-related infrastructure, such as ports and emergency preparedness systems.

Canada’s new ‘transatlanticism’: revitalizing transatlantic defence and security is good for Canada, not just Europe
Former PM Harper says military spending can address Arctic infrastructure gap

Former PM Harper says military spending can address Arctic infrastructure gap

Former prime minister Stephen Harper says the best way to build much-needed infrastructure in the Arctic is through military spending. Speaking at an Arctic security conference in Iqaluit on Friday, Harper said leveraging military spending can build roads and runways to create supply chains and lower the cost of living. Canada has committed to NATO's new military spending target of...

Can we find the extra $50-billion we promised NATO we’d spend on defence out of cuts in other spending? Yes, we can

Can we find the extra $50-billion we promised NATO we’d spend on defence out of cuts in other spending? Yes, we can

Well that was easy. Canada has just officially signed on to NATO’s latest target for military spending: 5 per cent of GDP, to be achieved by 2035. All it took was a stroke of the prime ministerial pen. If only most things in life were so simple. We only just announced, as you’ll recall, that we’d meet NATO’s former target...

Carney says Canada will spend 5% of its GDP on defence by 2035

Carney says Canada will spend 5% of its GDP on defence by 2035

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada and its NATO allies have agreed to substantially hike their defence spending target to five per cent of annual GDP by 2035. At a press conference outside the NATO summit in The Hague Wednesday morning, Carney said Canada can no longer rely on geography to protect it as new weapons and threats emerge. He...

Canada commits to new NATO defence spending pledge to hit 5 per cent of GDP by 2035

Canada commits to new NATO defence spending pledge to hit 5 per cent of GDP by 2035

Prime Minister Mark Carney is committing that Canada – along with other NATO allies – will invest five per cent of GDP on defence by 2035, a pledge that will mean billions more in spending per year. All 32 NATO members made the new commitment at the alliance’s annual leaders’ meeting in The Hague on Wednesday. The five per cent...

Carney says Canada will meet new NATO spending target by developing critical minerals

Carney says Canada will meet new NATO spending target by developing critical minerals

Canada will reach an even higher NATO spending target in part by developing its critical minerals and the infrastructure needed to get them to market, Prime Minister Mark Carney said as the annual leaders' summit of alliance members got underway in the Netherlands. Carney is in The Hague for the NATO leaders' summit, and made the comments in a pre-summit...

NATO's 5% benchmark would cost Canada $150B a year, Carney says

NATO's 5% benchmark would cost Canada $150B a year, Carney says

Signing on to NATO's new defence spending target could cost the federal treasury up to $150 billion a year, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday in advance of the Western military alliance's annual summit. The prime minister made the comments in an interview with CNN International. "It is a lot of money," Carney said.

Anand says the 'timeline' is up for debate as NATO pursues higher defence spending

Anand says the 'timeline' is up for debate as NATO pursues higher defence spending

Canada is committed to increasing its defence spending but has questions about the "timeline" for hitting a new, higher NATO spending target, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Tuesday. NATO leaders are expected to decide at the summit in the Netherlands this week whether to raise the spending target from two per cent to five per cent of GDP. When...

Carney to begin talks on NATO spending target as summit starts today in The Hague

Carney to begin talks on NATO spending target as summit starts today in The Hague

Prime Minister Mark Carney begins a two-day stop Tuesday in the Netherlands, where NATO alliance members are prepared to decide whether to more than double the defence spending target. The main talks in The Hague won't happen until Wednesday, with Carney first set to take part in several bilateral meetings. Carney will meet with the President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs...

U.S. expecting NATO members to show them the money at leaders' summit

U.S. expecting NATO members to show them the money at leaders' summit

Carney has been open to more spending — but hasn’t committed to 5%. Short and sweet is not usually a phrase associated with the annual NATO leaders' summit, but arguably that's what many member nations are hoping for as U.S. President Donald Trump returns to the table. The gathering of allied leaders will be the first for Prime Minister Mark...

Canada’s top soldier says we should buy additional U.S. F-35 fighter jets and stick with America

Canada’s top soldier says we should buy additional U.S. F-35 fighter jets and stick with America

Canada’s top soldier says the military should keep buying at least some additional F-35 fighter jets from the United States, which she said will remain a key partner as Prime Minister Mark Carney pursues deeper defence ties with the European Union. Gen. Jennie Carignan, the chief of the defence staff, said Monday that the F-35 jet comes with many advantages...

NATO and the Trump Paradox

NATO and the Trump Paradox

With America engaged in retaliatory strikes with Iran in the Middle East, this year’s NATO Summit, which begins Tuesday in The Hague, has acquired a fresh layer of context. Back in 2019, two weeks before the NATO 70th anniversary summit in Watford, UK, French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a shot across the existential bow of the transatlantic military alliance. No...

Trump ups the ante on Carney for Golden Dome

Trump ups the ante on Carney for Golden Dome

American President Donald Trump left the G-7 meeting in Kananaskis one day early this week, but not before firing a parting shot at Prime Minister Carney over Canada’s role in the Golden Dome missile defence system, which will put weapons in space for the first time.

Carney talks de-escalation with Trump, as Belgian's PM offers no sympathy for Iran

Carney talks de-escalation with Trump, as Belgian's PM offers no sympathy for Iran

Bart De Wever says Iran is a sponsor of terrorism and should never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon. There was little sympathy for Iran and reluctant backing for regime change among some European leaders, following the weekend airstrikes by the United States on Iran's nuclear facilities. On Monday, newly minted conservative Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever described...

Prime Minister Carney in Brussels for EU-Canada summit

Prime Minister Carney in Brussels for EU-Canada summit

Prime Minister Mark Carney began official events for his four-day trip to Europe Monday by visiting a military cemetery in Belgium before a meeting with European counterparts at the EU-Canada summit. Carney said on social media Sunday he was in Brussels to launch "a new era of partnership" between Canada and the European Union to benefit workers, businesses and security...

More Canadians want to join the military, but current members keep leaving

More Canadians want to join the military, but current members keep leaving

Interest has spiked in the Canadian military, with recruitment levels hitting their highest point in a decade. But as more people walk in the door, thousands of enrolled members are deciding to walk out.

Carney travelling to Europe for security, defence talks with EU, NATO

Carney travelling to Europe for security, defence talks with EU, NATO

Prime Minister Mark Carney will depart for Europe on Sunday for back-to-back summits where he is expected to make major commitments for Canada on security and defence. Carney will be joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, Defence Minister David McGuinty and secretary of state for defence procurement Stephen Fuhr at the EU and NATO summits, where military procurement and...

Ottawa considering 'combination of approaches' to 20% military pay hike

Ottawa considering 'combination of approaches' to 20% military pay hike

Defence Minister David McGuinty's office says it's considering a "combination of approaches" to boosting pay for armed service members, including introducing retention bonuses for "stress trades." "This investment represents an almost 20 per cent increase to the overall CAF compensation envelope," McGuinty's spokesperson Laurent de Casanove said in an email statement to The Canadian Press. "The Department of National Defence...

Budget watchdog raises questions about Carney's defence spending promises

Budget watchdog raises questions about Carney's defence spending promises

Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux has requested specific details about the funding increase but has so far received little data. Parliament’s spending watchdog can’t get specific information about the recently announced military spending boost to verify whether the Liberal government’s new initiative will meet NATO targets. Article content The office of Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux has requested specific details...

How Mark Carney is turning military spending into a force for economic renewal

How Mark Carney is turning military spending into a force for economic renewal

When Mark Carney stood before Canadians on June 9 to announce a bold leap toward NATO’s defence spending benchmark of two per cent of GDP, the subtext was revolutionary. What could have been framed as an act of geopolitical compliance or national security enhancement was instead narrated as an economic renaissance. “Rebuilding, rearming, and reinvesting” was not just rhetorical symmetry...

Canada pledges $4.3B in support for Ukraine as Carney, Zelenskyy meet at G7

Canada pledges $4.3B in support for Ukraine as Carney, Zelenskyy meet at G7

Prime Minister Mark Carney outlined $4.3 billion in new support for Ukraine's defence as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Alberta on Tuesday. The Prime Minister's Office said that sum includes $2 billion for the purchase and donation of weapons and materiel like drones, ammunition and armoured vehicles — funding that...