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To help shift the country away from its dependence on the United States, Canada’s prime minister plans to spend billions to revitalize its military and meet a NATO spending goal.
June 15, 2025, 5:01 a.m. ET
At the end of World War II, Canada boasted one of the world’s largest navies, with 95,000 uniformed members and 434 ships.
The current Royal Canadian Navy is far less impressive — about 11,500 members and 40 vessels.
Only one of its four diesel submarines, which were bought secondhand from Britain in the 1990s, is operational. And Canada’s armed forces as a whole are about 16,000 people short of an approved head count of 101,500, including reserves.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, seeking to reverse what he characterized as the atrophying of Canada’s military, is directing billions of dollars to the armed forces, with the goal of reaching a NATO spending commitment this year, seven years ahead of schedule.
And while the move comes after repeated claims by President Trump that Canada was effectively sponging off the United States to ensure its defense, Mr. Carney also cast the spending as part of his effort to loosen Canada’s ties with its neighbor after Mr. Trump’s repeated comments about making it the 51st state.
Many of Canada’s allies in Europe, including Britain and Germany, are also expanding their militaries in the face of Mr. Trump’s isolationism.
Mr. Carney has yet to say where the 9.3 billion Canadian dollars, about $6.8 billion, he has added to the defense budget will come from. Many people also question whether the armed forces will be able to actually spend that extra money so quickly.
