On Monday in Toronto, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to hit the NATO benchmark of spending two per cent of GDP on defence by March 2026, an ambitious commitment meant to reduce reliance on the U.S., counter “an emboldened Russia and an assertive China” and draw closer to “stable democracies” in Asia and elsewhere around the world.
“Canada can work towards a new international set of partnerships that are more secure, prosperous, just, and free,” said Carney, adding that it was “time for Canada to chart its own path and assert itself on the international stage.”
In 2024, Canada spent the equivalent of 1.45 per cent of its GDP on defence.
Carney’s announcement will translate to higher pay for Canadian Armed Forces members, new aircraft, submarines, armed vehicles, drones, radar, and ammunition, and further investment to “build capacity in artificial intelligence, cyber, quantum, and space.”
Monday’s announcement could be good news for South Korea and Japan, two Indo-Pacific allies who have recently pitched their non-nuclear submarines as “ideal for Canada,” according to APF Canada’s Tae Yeon Eom, who writes that South Korea’s KSS-III submarines and Japan’s Taigei-class submarines “incorporate key technologies for Arctic operations.” Carney said Monday that, “as our climate changes and the polar ice recedes, Canada’s Arctic is becoming more accessible and vulnerable to commercial and military activity.”
