The Canadian Armed Forces is extending the deadline to meet its targets for military readiness and reducing others to “ensure they are realistic and achievable,” according to an internal report.
The Department of National Defence will grant itself an additional seven years to meet its army and navy readiness targets, moving what was supposed to be a deadline for the end of this year to 2032.
Another four years will also be tacked on to allow the CAF to reach a reduced air force metric.
The previous departmental plan had been slated for March 31, 2025, for the army and navy to reach the same readiness targets. However, the CAF’s target is currently only at 70 per cent for its land and air fleets, and 60 per cent for maritime fleets.
“The new dates are more accurate and align with the department’s long-term strategic objectives and planned defence investments, reflecting a commitment to driving significant improvements,” reads the report.
The new deadline will include Canada’s recent NATO and NORAD commitments.
Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to reach NATO’s new five per cent of GDP spending on defence target by 2035 last month, giving his government ten years to meet the new goal.
This has led to a growing rift within the military regarding whether it should present a bright perception of its circumstances to the public or one that remains closer to reality.
Former vice-chief of the defence staff Mark Norman told the Hill Times that the latest change in plans recognizes the “dire state of affairs that the military has been trying to communicate for a long time.”
“We’ve now reached a point where you can’t deny it or pretend that it’s not the case anymore,” he said. “The political leadership has recognized that this is a problem and the machinery of government has now recognized that this is clearly a problem.”
Norman said the military’s readiness is impeded by the number and available personnel, their training, and access to equipment.
The CAF is currently facing a shortage of up to 14,000 qualified personnel in both the regular and reserve forces and much of its equipment is run down and lags behind what is available today.
“We have risk-managed ourselves into a crisis,” said Norman, referring to Canada’s lack of investment in maintaining sufficient spare parts for its fleets.
Additionally, the 2025-26 departmental plans reveal the military’s “degradation in material readiness of the aging platforms within the existing fleet will present a significant challenge to maintaining that operational readiness.”
Norman noted that the CAF’s limited capacity means it will require “very careful, cautious, and deliberate” decisions going forward in how it will administer its forces.
“The system is very fragile and they will continue to favour internal priorities in order to achieve those long-term force generation targets,” he said. “That means the government has very limited options both for what I would characterize as discretionary activity or non-discretionary activity.”