Military can’t say if uptick in applications since Trump’s return connected to his threats, amid push to bolster recruitment

Gen. Jennie Carignan, chief of the defence staff, participates in an interview in her office at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa on January 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

The Canadian Armed Forces is on track to meet its recruitment goal for the year, thanks in part to an uptick in applications in the month since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

While senior military officials stopped short of attributing the influx over the last month to any specific factor, they did not rule out the rising surge of national pride stemming from Trump’s annexation threats from aiding in their recruitment efforts going forward.

“In the last month, we had about 1,000 more applicants than we did this time last year,” said Commander of Military Personnel Generation Group Pascal Belhumeur.

During a briefing with reporters Wednesday on changes to the Canadian Armed Forces’ recruitment process, Comm. Belhumeur later added that “so far” the military isn’t tracking anyone who is coming in saying they are doing so in light of Trump’s 51st state talk, or NATO spending threats.

“We do have surveys, prospect surveys, so in time we will have better statistics still, but it is still early days on whether or not there’s been a shift of people wanting to join and the reasons why,” he said.

Jumping in, Chief of Military Personnel Lt.-Gen. Lise Bourgon added, “Whatever your reason to want to serve, please go to the recruiting centre and put your application in.”

During the briefing, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan said that what is being asked of the Canadian Armed Forces today is not the same as what was being asked in the past, and Canada is facing the need to transform its military “to adapt to what the threat of today, and the future looks like.”

Asked then if these threats include the U.S. potentially wanting to annex Canada, Carignan said “militarily, we’re not there at all.”

She said that as the current Canada-U.S. relationship stands from a military collaboration perspective, it is “very, very stable.”

Tracking to meet recruitment goal this year

After years of personnel shortages and recruitment challenges, the Canadian Armed Forces has stated it is aiming to return to “full strength,” by 2032.

Though on Wednesday, Carignan said internally the target date to meet that goal is by the end of the 2029 fiscal year.

The military considers full strength to be 71,500 regular force members and 30,000 reservists.

“We are not going to stop recruiting once we hit our target, we’re going to go over and above for as long as it takes to get back to that strength. But not only that, we need to go further,” Carignan said.

As of Jan. 15, Canada had 64,595 regular force members, and 23,117 reservists, coming up 13,728 personnel short of the target.

“So, pressure’s on,” Bourgon added. “But if everything goes well, we’ll reach that.”

In providing the update on efforts to attract and train up more troops faster, the senior military officials highlighted a number of recent efforts undertaken.

They include expanding the applicant pool to include permanent residents, to allowing recruits to begin basic training while they wait for security clearances and other administrative paperwork is finalized.

The Forces have also been using targeted advertisements and augmented reality experiences, as well as developing more digital-friendly application processes to help attract a new generation of soldiers.

The military is also now no longer disqualifying applicants with certain medical conditions by default.

This means that prospective recruits with anxiety, allergies, asthma or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder will be deemed fit to serve on a case-by-case basis.

“Any and all conditions are on the table for consideration for enrollment,” said CAF Surgeon General Maj.-Gen. Scott Malcolm.

Considering two Liberal leadership candidates – Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould – are promising to increase the salaries of Canadian Armed Forces members as part of plans to speed up overall defence spending, today Carignan stopped short of saying if she thinks the troops are currently underpaid.

“We are always monitoring that aspect for our members,” she said. “We want to make sure, for example, on the recruiting aspect, we have specialist trades who are in very much demand. And want to make sure that we offer a competitive salary.”