>The Canadian military insists it’s getting a handle on its recruiting crisis, but a new leaked internal report obtained by CBC News suggests many of those who come through the door quickly leave in frustration over the inability to get trained and into the job they want.
>In addition, the effort to retain experienced soldiers, sailors and aircrew was dealt an important blow recently when a Department of National Defence office — set up to find ways to keep people — was defunded.
>[…]
>”The highest attrition rates within the [Canadian Armed Forces] CAF are observed among its lowest ranks and newest members,” said the report, which pointed to the 2023-24 fiscal year where 9.4 per cent of newly enrolled members quit, as opposed to 4.3 per cent average across all of the Forces.
>The reason new members are quitting: Training delays and difficulty adjusting to military life.
>In some cases, recruits are waiting over 206 days for training — notably in specialized trades.
>”There are insufficient trainers, equipment, training facilities and other supports to meet training targets effectively,” said the report, written in April 2025.
>[…]
>The evaluation report, obtained by CBC News, said retention efforts of the military’s top commanders had made little progress, partly because of the “limited awareness” of the strategy introduced by Eyre and former defence minister Anita Anand.
>”This issue was exacerbated by the defunding of the Retention Program Office, which was responsible for managing the [senior leaders’] tasks outlined in the strategy,” said the evaluation.
>The Defence Department was asked why the office, which was also tasked to conduct research on the reasons members choose to quit, was defunded and whether it related to the Liberal government’s internal budget reallocation exercise.
>In a statement late Thursday night, the department acknowledged the office had been shut down and that “its finances and staff were reassigned to support overarching Canadian Armed Forces reconstitution efforts.”
>The department insisted its overall retention strategy is still in effect and that its available resources have not changed.
# Follow-through questioned
>Last year, the government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau ordered National Defence to find $810 million in savings — money that could be pumped back into equipment purchases. Federal estimates said the DND was then expected to find $851 million in savings in the 2025-26 budget year and $907 million thereafter.
>Duval-Lantoine said that follows a typical pattern. The Defence Department comes up with all of these plans and either never follows through, or doesn’t support them.
>”It’s appalling to see personnel [policy] pieces being defended in what the military called the reconstitution era,” said Duval-Lantoine.
>”Since 2022, we’ve been hearing that personnel issues are a priority for the Canadian Armed Forces. But then when we look down the line, the military is not putting its money where its mouth is.”
>In exit interviews, the departing members talk about the “challenges related to high operational tempo, lack of equipment, training and leadership direction.”
>One of the biggest complaints of new members who are leaving is that they believe senior commanders have the wrong priorities.
>”Interview evidence shows that there is a perception leadership is prioritizing culture change over critical operational needs like ammunition and equipment,” said the evaluation.
>Similarly, the report found that little effort is made to hold on to highly experienced members who are close to retirement, but might be enticed to stay.
This article is practically red meat for you u/OkEntertainment1313
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Article link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/military-retention-program-defunding-1.7536509
>The Canadian military insists it’s getting a handle on its recruiting crisis, but a new leaked internal report obtained by CBC News suggests many of those who come through the door quickly leave in frustration over the inability to get trained and into the job they want.
>In addition, the effort to retain experienced soldiers, sailors and aircrew was dealt an important blow recently when a Department of National Defence office — set up to find ways to keep people — was defunded.
>[…]
>”The highest attrition rates within the [Canadian Armed Forces] CAF are observed among its lowest ranks and newest members,” said the report, which pointed to the 2023-24 fiscal year where 9.4 per cent of newly enrolled members quit, as opposed to 4.3 per cent average across all of the Forces.
>The reason new members are quitting: Training delays and difficulty adjusting to military life.
>In some cases, recruits are waiting over 206 days for training — notably in specialized trades.
>”There are insufficient trainers, equipment, training facilities and other supports to meet training targets effectively,” said the report, written in April 2025.
>[…]
>The evaluation report, obtained by CBC News, said retention efforts of the military’s top commanders had made little progress, partly because of the “limited awareness” of the strategy introduced by Eyre and former defence minister Anita Anand.
>”This issue was exacerbated by the defunding of the Retention Program Office, which was responsible for managing the [senior leaders’] tasks outlined in the strategy,” said the evaluation.
>The Defence Department was asked why the office, which was also tasked to conduct research on the reasons members choose to quit, was defunded and whether it related to the Liberal government’s internal budget reallocation exercise.
>In a statement late Thursday night, the department acknowledged the office had been shut down and that “its finances and staff were reassigned to support overarching Canadian Armed Forces reconstitution efforts.”
>The department insisted its overall retention strategy is still in effect and that its available resources have not changed.
# Follow-through questioned
>Last year, the government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau ordered National Defence to find $810 million in savings — money that could be pumped back into equipment purchases. Federal estimates said the DND was then expected to find $851 million in savings in the 2025-26 budget year and $907 million thereafter.
>Duval-Lantoine said that follows a typical pattern. The Defence Department comes up with all of these plans and either never follows through, or doesn’t support them.
>”It’s appalling to see personnel [policy] pieces being defended in what the military called the reconstitution era,” said Duval-Lantoine.
>”Since 2022, we’ve been hearing that personnel issues are a priority for the Canadian Armed Forces. But then when we look down the line, the military is not putting its money where its mouth is.”
>In exit interviews, the departing members talk about the “challenges related to high operational tempo, lack of equipment, training and leadership direction.”
>One of the biggest complaints of new members who are leaving is that they believe senior commanders have the wrong priorities.
>”Interview evidence shows that there is a perception leadership is prioritizing culture change over critical operational needs like ammunition and equipment,” said the evaluation.
>Similarly, the report found that little effort is made to hold on to highly experienced members who are close to retirement, but might be enticed to stay.
This article is practically red meat for you u/OkEntertainment1313