Canadian military reports sagging recruitment as NATO ramps up deployment in eastern Europe

Canada's militaryreports that it'sroughly 7,600 membersshort offull strength just asNATO is deploying more troops to eastern Europe in response to Russia's invasion ofUkraine.

The latestfigure was recorded on Feb. 15 and shows a major shortfall in what the military calls its "trained, effective strength." The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) hasroughly 65,000 regular members.

"This is of course a number one priority for all of us, ensuring readiness is not affected by our current trained, effective strength," said Maj.-Gen. Simon Bernard, the military's lead on reconstituting the forces.

Gen. Wayne Eyre, chief of defence staff, said earlier this month that operational readiness is "one of the things that keeps me awake at night" as he laid out his plans to rebuild the militaryfor an "increasingly dangerous future."

NATO's Sec. Gen. Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday the alliance isdeploying four more battle groups to Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Bulgariaas a show of unity and force in the face of Russia's unprovoked war on Ukraine. NATO leadersare expected to discusswhether to make that deploymentpermanent when they meetin Brussels on Thursday.

A 'significant' shortfall

David Perry, the president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said CAF'smembership shortfall is "significant."

"[The military] always put the highest priority on operational commitments, including NATO, so the short-term impacts will probably be low," said Perry. "But if we can't quickly fix that shortfall, it will impact what we can commit to NATO in the medium and long term."

Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus,vice-chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association, said the shortfall is a "huge problem" and raises questionsabout Canada's abilityto deploy the 3,400 militarypersonnel now on standbyto join NATO's high-readiness force.

"I think the government needs to change things quickly," said Hus. "We need to recruit."

The military has seen a drop in numbersduring the pandemic and over the course of its recent sexual misconduct crisis. Multiplesenior male leaders have been sidelined,investigated or forced into retirement in connection with sexual misconduct claims.

The military said it does not yet knowhow many members have left in response to sexual misconduct claims.

Drop in female recruits

Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignanwas appointed the military'schief of professional conduct and culture a year ago. Shegave a briefing Wednesday with acting chief of military personnelMaj.-Gen. Lise Bourgon.

"We've seen an impact, sadly. I wish I could tell you that we've not, but we've seen an impact, and we need to work on that,"Bourgonsaid of the effect of sexual misconduct allegations on recruitment and retention.

Bourgon said 71 per cent of the military's workforce is made up of "white males."

"The bottom line ... is that diversity enhances readiness and, in turn, our operational effectiveness,"Bourgonsaid.

"So as an organization, we must attract, recruit, retain and develop talent that is representative of our Canadian society. The situation requires serious attention and clear leadership."

Women, minority groups and Indigenous members "continue to be under-represented" in the military, she said.

Only 631 women enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forcesinthe 2021-2022fiscal year roughly 15 per cent of all new recruits into theregular forces.The number of women who enrolledover the year isthe lowest recordedsince 2015-2016 and representsa 10 per cent drop fromthe previousfiscal year.

In 2016, the military committed to increasing the number of women in uniform and is striving to reach the goal of 25 per cent of all military personnel by 2026. As of last month, women accounted for just over 16 per cent of the Canadian Armed Forces, CAFsaid.

CAF said it'staking steps to diversify the forces. It said it'sadopting a gender-inclusivedress code and relaxing rules banning long hair and hair dyed in bright colours.

"It's going to be the first visual change of our culture change," said Bourgon. "We can't define our soldiers by short hair anymore. The colour and the length of the hair does not define your quality as a soldier, an aviator, and a sailor. So this is going to be a big departure."