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Why Canada is seeing its biggest military recruitment surge in 30 years

For decades, Canada was seen as a global laggard in defence funding, and just two years ago, recruitment was so dire that a former defence minister warned the armed forces were in a "death spiral".

Now, the Canadian army is growing at a pace not seen in decades, reaching its highest number of recruits in 30 years and potentially reversing the chronic personnel shortage that has plagued the country's military.

The boost over the last two years comes as the world grapples with major armed conflicts and geopolitical uncertainty, and as Canada commits billions in new military funding after years of falling short of its Nato obligations.

It also coincides with an uncharacteristic rise in nationalism that has emerged since US President Donald Trump referred to Canada as the "51st state" - remarks that many viewed as a threat to the country's sovereignty from its closest neighbour.

Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute who researches Canada's military culture, said that while there may be a "Trump effect" behind the recent rise in enlistment, military applications had already begun spiking in 2022, around the time of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"When people see that the world is not as safe, that their country might be at risk… we tend to see people join the military," she said.

Global conflicts are not the only factor driving the increase. Canada's high youth unemployment rate - which hovered at nearly 14% in March - as well as the promise of job security and higher wages after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the largest pay increase for military personnel in a generation, are also a factor, Duval-Lantoine added.

Since taking office last year, Carney has made the military a focus of his government, with a self-described "ambitious" plan to rapidly modernise and expand the Canadian Armed Forces.

LISTEN: How to Spend Billions – Fast: Carney's Defence Deadline

In March, he announced that Canada had officially achieved the Nato target of spending 2% of its GDP on defence for the first time since the late 1980s, amounting to over C$63bn ($46bn; £34bn) in a single year. Carney also joined the Nato pledge to spending up to 5% of GDP on defence by 2035.

Canada reached that 2% milestone by increasing salaries, as well as pledging to buy new equipment, upgrade existing bases and build new infrastructure in the Arctic.

(…Further details omitted…)

(Senior Canada reporter Nadine Yousif / BBC, 2026-05-11)

How Canada’s military went from a ‘death spiral’ to a recruitment boom