Our North, Strong and Free: A Renewed Vision for Canada’s Defence
April 8, 2024
Trenton, Ontario
We live in an increasingly complex world, and the security threats faced by Canada are rapidly changing. Growing challenges to the international order that has long protected Canada’s prosperity and security, the rising impact of climate change, and the rapid pace of technological change is all affecting Canada’s national interests. These trends are also having real and tangible impacts on the daily lives of Canadians.
In response to these challenges, the service of our Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is more important than ever – from defending Canada and securing our sovereignty in the Arctic, to protecting our continent alongside the United States, to providing life-saving assistance to Canadians impacted by natural disasters, to strengthening NATO’s collective defence and providing military assistance to help Ukraine defend itself, to increasing our presence in the Indo-Pacific.
We need a robust military that can defend Canada and protect Canadians at home, including in our North, while defending North America and our national interests abroad with Allies and partners. The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the Minister of National Defence, Bill Blair, today released Our North, Strong and Free: A Renewed Vision for Canada’s Defence and announced a new overall investment of $8.1 billion over five years and $73 billion over 20 years in defence spending to be included in the upcoming Budget 2024. Canada’s defence spending to GDP ratio is expected to rise to 1.76 per cent by 2029-30, a major step toward reaching the NATO commitment of 2 per cent.
Since the launch in 2017 of Strong, Secure, Engaged, Canada’s comprehensive defence policy, we have already invested to strengthen the CAF, and we are on track to more than double our defence spending from 2016-17 to 2026‑27. We are acquiring new fighter jets and maritime patrol aircraft, and new built-in-Canada Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessels are being delivered to Canadian sailors. In 2022, we invested around $38 billion to modernize our contribution to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Our North, Strong and Free builds on these previous commitments, providing a renewed vision for defence and investing in Canada’s capacity to respond to the significant global shifts we have witnessed since the release of Strong, Secure, Engaged.