Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will need to spend up to $150 billion annually on defence and related infrastructure to meet a new NATO military spending benchmark set to be adopted at this week’s leaders’ summit in the Netherlands.
In an interview Tuesday with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on day one of the NATO summit in The Hague, Carney confirmed that alliance leaders are expected to endorse a major new target: five per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) dedicated to defence, up from the current two per cent goal.
Carney said the new formula includes 3.5 per cent of GDP in core military spending and 1.5 per cent in infrastructure and related investments.
He indicated that approximately a third of the projected $150 billion figure could be met through existing or planned infrastructure projects, leaving $45 to $50 billion in additional yearly military expenditures.
“I’m not signing a bunch of postdated checks for the military hardware today,” Carney said, emphasizing that while Canada will work to meet the new threshold, it will do so prudently. He added that he expects NATO to review the target’s feasibility within several years.
The Prime Minister also expressed confidence that alliance members will agree to a 10-year window to meet the goal, though discussions are ongoing. Canada has only ever pledged to meet the two per cent benchmark for 2025, with core defence spending projected at $62.7 billion.
The five per cent goal, which U.S. President Donald Trump has championed, is being introduced in part to address long-standing concerns from Washington that NATO allies are overly reliant on American military power.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Tuesday that the U.S. commitment to the alliance’s Article 5 clause—which declares that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all—remains firm despite Trump’s past remarks casting doubt on mutual defence.
“I have no doubt that the U.S. is totally committed to NATO, totally committed to Article 5,” Rutte said in The Hague.
“There is total commitment by the U.S. president and U.S. senior leadership to NATO,” Rutte told a forum Tuesday.
“However, it comes with an expectation that we will finally deal with this huge pebble in the shoe, this huge irritant, which is that we are not spending enough as Europeans and Canadians.”
Carney echoed the need for modernization over conventional hardware, noting that Canada must invest in cutting-edge defence technologies.
“We don’t need an aircraft carrier,” he said, pointing instead to satellite-linked drones and advanced surveillance tools now widely used by Ukraine in its war efforts against Russia.
He also said the federal government plans to count critical minerals development and other national security infrastructure toward the 1.5% GDP infrastructure goal.
Some members are not on board with the spending increase. Spain, which the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party currently leads, has said it would spend 2.1 per cent of GDP, not intending to meet the full five per cent.
NATO officials said there is no opt-out from the goal, and that all countries’ contributions will be monitored.
Carney is scheduled to meet with Trump and other leaders on day two of the summit, on Wednesday, where he will also deliver formal remarks on Canada’s contribution to the alliance.
