Armed Forces envision insurgency tactics like those used by Afghan mujahedeen, sources say. But officials and experts stress a U.S. operation is unlikely, and the scenarios are conceptual. The Canadian Armed Forces have modelled a hypothetical U.S. military invasion of Canada and the country’s potential response, which includes tactics similar to those employed against Russia and later U.S.-led forces in...
Prime Minister Mark Carney will accept an invitation from Donald Trump to join the U.S. president’s “Board of Peace,” a U.S.-led effort in planning the future reconstruction of Gaza, CTV News has learned. Speaking on background before departing China on Friday, a senior Canadian government official told reporters the request came earlier in the day. Carney will accept, but has...
Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to upgrade Canada’s defence and military capabilities by accelerating investment in the country’s defence industrial base, something former defence minister Harjit Sajjan says his new startup can help achieve. On Thursday, Sajjan and Hunter Scharfe announced the launch of Vancouver-based defence technology company Juno Industries Inc., which is developing autonomous systems software for military and...
In military deterrence lingo, what we're witnessing in Greenland is sometimes referred to as the "glass plate" or the "tripwire." It's a metaphor for breaking the glass — or crossing the threshold — between peace and war. Denmark announced Wednesday that it is bolstering its troop, naval and air presence in the Arctic island in conjunction with NATO allies.
Copenhagen sends a message as U.S. president keeps rattling sabre. Denmark delivered two significant messages to U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday. The first came during a high-stakes diplomatic meeting in Washington, where top Danish and Greenlandic diplomats told Trump’s emissaries that under no circumstances will they permit the U.S. to acquire, control or otherwise take over the huge, ice-encrusted...
Denmark and allied countries said Wednesday they will increase their military presence in Greenland as part of expanded exercises, amid intensifying pressure from Washington over the Arctic island’s sovereignty. “Security in the Arctic is of crucial importance to the Kingdom and our Arctic allies, and it is therefore important that we, in close cooperation with allies, further strengthen our ability...
Swedish firm looking to manufacture aircraft for Canadian and international markets. The Canadian Armed Forces would need to buy 72 Gripen fighter jets and six GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for Swedish manufacturer Saab to deliver on its pledge of creating 12,600 jobs in Canada, CBC News has learned.
German submarine builder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is partnering with Canadian AI company Cohere to bring its technology aboard Canada’s next fleet of submarines, should TKMS win the multibillion-dollar contract. The agreement is part of TKMS’s promise to integrate Canadian companies into its supply chain for the project, bringing the industrial benefits to the country that Ottawa is asking for...
Canada is offering to contribute military assets to a multilateral force being proposed by Germany and Britain to boost NATO’s presence in Greenland, government sources said. One official said that Prime Minister Mark Carney raised with allies the issue of reinforcing the Arctic, including Greenland, when he was in Europe last week. “We welcome the German and British plan and...
There's been a subtle but significant shift in what NORAD has been seeing over the last year when it comes to mostly Russian — but also Chinese — activity in the Arctic, says the top commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD). U.S. Gen. Gregory Guillot tells CBC News that air and sea incursions into the zones just...
The world is watching U.S. President Donald Trump as he puts America on a collision course with democratically elected European governments and the European Union, says Canada's former UN ambassador Bob Rae. Given the United States has used military force to remove Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s president, and U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to claim Greenland, to annex Canada...
The Royal Canadian Air Force wants to hire more than a thousand new security personnel over the next five years at bases across the country — just as it brings its new F-35 stealth fighter jets into service. Internal documents from spring 2025, obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access-to-Information law, show the Air Force drafted a plan to...
Joint project with Eutelsat promoted by French president during G7 summit. A company largely owned by the French and U.K. governments is pitching Canada on a roughly $250-million plan to provide the military with secure satellite broadband coverage in the Arctic, CBC News has learned. Eutelsat, a rival to tech billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink, already provides some services to the...
'I can’t understand why a government can’t get down to business and operate rigorously,' says Alan Williams, a former assistant deputy minister of materiel at National Defence. The federal government missing its own deadline for the release of its highly anticipated Defence Industrial Strategy can hurt the industry, and signals to other countries that Canada is “inept and incompetent,” says...
A substantial entry level pay hike for pilots and the acquisition of new and advanced aircraft are "absolutely" helping to shore up Royal Canadian Air Force pilot retention and morale, says the force's commander. In a wide-ranging recent interview with The Canadian Press, Commander Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet said she is seeing signs of progress despite the protracted personnel crisis gripping...
The clinical military extraction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last week has exposed many policy and legal issues implicating future American hemispheric involvement, including American threats toward Greenland, a territory of NATO member Denmark. The rationale for the attacks on Venezuela, as articulated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was to enforce U.S. law, since Maduro and his wife had...
The head of the Royal Canadian Air Force has only been in the job for half a year -- but it's been an eventful period as the force has worked to rapidly overhaul its fleets and turn a corner on persistent personnel shortages. In a wide-ranging interview, Commander Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet told The Canadian Press that while change is happening...
Canada and more than two dozen Ukrainian allies have signed a statement pledging to secure Ukraine from further Russian invasions if there is a viable peace deal. The U.K. and France have committed to physical hubs within Ukraine for armed support, but it remains unclear whether Canadian soldiers would be deployed on the ground.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will continue to build up its military might in the coming years, in part so it's able to play a role in providing security guarantees for Ukraine. Carney is in Paris meeting with Ukraine's allies to discuss the role Canada might play in securing an eventual ceasefire in the war with Russia. At a...
A thorough media scan reveals practically no discussion about this important escalation, which would put Canada among only a few Western navies (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) that operate submarine-launched land-attack weapons.
In the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump’s Sunday meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the U.S. president said he spoke with the leaders of France, Finland, Poland, Norway, Italy, the U.K. and Germany, as well as the presidents of NATO and the European Commission. Canada was notable by its absence, despite committing an additional $2.5 billion in financing and loan...
Canada's defence establishment entering an era of bigger ambitions and budgets. The commander of the Royal Canadian Navy is floating the idea of an ice-capable amphibious landing ship to move troops and equipment around the country’s Arctic — and perhaps elsewhere. But Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee is quick not to get his hopes up — and has even, occasionally, taken pains...
More than 30 years after Canada's military allowed women to serve in combat roles, it's now specifically designing uniforms and body armour to fit their bodies. For decades, female soldiers have been wearing uniforms designed primarily for men and some say it has made their jobs harder, contributed to injuries and hurt morale. Retired major Sandra Perron became the country's...
Mission to deter Russian aggression in Baltic region already Canada's largest overseas deployment. Canada’s military operations command has embarked on a study about how the country’s NATO deployment in Latvia can be realistically sustained into the future, and one of options could involve more permanent basing, says a senior commander. Lt.-Gen. Steve Boivin, the commander of the Canadian Joint Operations...
A new study by the Center for European Policy Analysis suggests Russia and China are pulling ahead of NATO nations, including Canada, in the race to develop and field drones capable of operating in harsh Arctic conditions. The report, released this week, identified infrastructure gaps, questioned the adequacy of investment and pointed to procurement obstacles that hinder the integration of...
As a youngster in Quebec, she dreamt of becoming a dancer. Instead, Jennie Carignan soared to become Canada’s first female Chief of the Defence Staff, the highest-ranking military position in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Canada is injecting tens of billions of dollars into defence as it looks to ramp up spending to levels not seen since the Cold War — both to meet its NATO commitments and to juice the domestic economy. But it remains to be seen whether National Defence — a department which the opposition Conservatives point out has tended to struggle...
The Department of National Defence is looking to the U.S. military as it sets the stage for a new Canadian Forces space project that could cost up to $400 million. Article content The department has contacted the U.S. Space Systems Command as part of the early stages for Canada’s proposed Space Command and Control (Space C2) project. “Space Systems Command...
The leak came as Prime Minister Mark Carney considers whether to purchase the Gripen or F-35. The defence department has launched an investigation into the leak of a document now being used to undercut the government’s consideration of an alternative to the American-made F-35. The leak of the four-year old document came in the midst of the ongoing process in...
Army commander suggests rifles expected to be sourced from domestic supplier. A program intended to replace the entire stock of the Canadian military’s aging assault rifles is being sped up, CBC News has learned. An internal Department of National Defence presentation references a move to quickly order the first tranche of weapons under the Canadian Modular Assault Rifle program. The...
Supplementary reserve of 300,000 citizens envisioned. The Department of National Defence is scrambling to figure out how it will clothe, equip and train hundreds of thousands of new reservists envisioned under an ambitious mobilization proposal that Canada’s top military commander describes as a work in progress. Similarly, in what may be an ominous sign of the times, the department has...
Without much fanfare, the U.S. government has launched what could be a seismic shift in American foreign policy with its new National Security Strategy. And for Canada, the impact of the NSS could be profound. We already know Donald Trump’s approach to relations with Canada has complicated our economic and security environment. But the NSS tries make coherent a foreign...
Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,009 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between November 29th and December 2nd, 2025, as part of an omnibus survey. The margin of error for this survey is ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Proponents say U.S. approval — and Canada's full order of jets — would be necessary. Companies involved in the F-35 program are actively lobbying the governments of Canada and Quebec to promote potential economic benefits for the country, including maintenance facilities north of Montreal — but such benefits are only promised to materialize if the government makes good on its...
As the Canadian government reviews its commitment to purchase American-made Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, a new poll shows what Canadians think should be prioritized in procuring replacements to the aging CF-18s. The CTV News and Nanos Research survey gauged Canadian’s views on what matters the most to them in terms of defence cooperation, in light of ongoing trade tensions...
The federal government has disclosed the first eight projects to be managed by the new Defence Investment Agency. The large military procurements include Canada's next fleet of submarines, Arctic over-the-horizon radar, and a fleet of early warning-and-control surveillance aircraft. The other projects include in-service support and software upgrades for the CC-130J Hercules transport aircraft, and satellite communications procurements -- but...
A leaked briefing document prepared for the federal Liberal caucus claims that a bill put forward by NDP MP Jenny Kwan would "decimate" Canada's defence industry and "dismantle" defence sector trade with the U.S. The briefing document, obtained by The Canadian Press, arms Liberal MPs with blunt talking points that call the legislation "misguided" and say it would introduce new...
Canada has spent 28 years trying to buy a new fighter jet: the federal government made a decision, then unmade it, then made it again. We’ve already spent more than a billion dollars on this thing, and 1,500 Canadian jobs have been created to build it. It’s the tent pole of our plans to defend ourselves and co-operate with our...
The armoured vehicles U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is purchasing from Canadian defence firm Roshel fall under Buy American provisions, the law enforcement agency said Thursday. The department's media relations team said in an emailed statement that the "production of the Roshel Senator emergency response vehicle originates in the United States." Despite numerous requests, the ICE agency did not provide...
Canada is expected to buy close to $4-billion in air strike munitions from the United States government in a sale disclosed Thursday on the eve of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s next meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington. These are the type of bombs that can be carried by fighter jets such as Canada’s aging CF-18s or the new U.S.-made...
The Canadian military is undertaking a structural reorganization designed to make the force more nimble and adaptable to new technology, the Department of National Defence said Thursday. Following the lead of allies such as Australia, it has created a new joint forces command that will house major support elements such as military health services, logistics and operational support branches and...
The cost of an initial order of U.S.-supplied equipment for Canada’s new fleet of warships has almost tripled as more American systems are being purchased, according to new information released by the U.S. government. The order for U.S. systems has increased from $1.25 billion ($900 million U.S.) to $3.6 billion ($2.6 billion U.S.), according to a public notice published by...
The public relations war between supporters of the F-35 and Gripen has taken another twist as an internal Department of National Defence document comparing the two fighter jets has been leaked. Canada’s fighter jet debate continues with still no decision from Prime Minister Mark Carney on which aircraft his government will purchase. The choice comes down to the U.S.-built F-3...