More Canadians want to join the military, but enlisted members keep leaving
Interest has spiked in the Canadian military, with recruitment levels hitting their highest point in a decade. But as more people walk in the door, thousands of enlisted members are deciding to walk out.
Numbers obtained by Global News show the retention crisis worsened year over year, as Prime Minister Mark Carney who is attending the NATO summit in Brussels, vows to rebuild the Armed Forces and reduce Canada’s dependence on the U.S.
“The reason why retention has not been improving is because the military has been putting all of his eggs in the recruitment basket,” said Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a defence analyst with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
According to figures from the Department of National Defence, attrition rates in the regular forces increased, with 5,026 leaving the military between 2024 and 2025, compared with 4,256 during the same period the previous year.
Retention among reservists improved slightly during the past two years. Overall, the situation has remained largely stagnant, the DND numbers show.
“This is knowledge and readiness that we’re losing that new recruits cannot replace immediately … and skills that are necessary to defend Canada,” Duval-Lantoine said.
Recruitment in the regular forces hit a record high this fiscal year, but not all 6,706 enrolled will pass basic training. The gains are offset by the loss of 5,026 members.
More people are considering careers in the Canadian Armed Forces, as Canada’s relationship with the U.S. undergoes a major shift, and Ottawa vows to prioritize defence and increase pay for military personnel.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened Canadian sovereignty and has not backed away from punishing tariffs. The CAF cautions it’s too early to link the jump in interest to Trump’s rhetoric and policies.
The military has widened eligibility recently to include permanent residents and applicants with certain medical conditions, while modernizing recruitment with a new online portal.
Unless the military can hold onto more currently serving members, Duval-Lantoine doubts it will fill a shortage of roughly 13,000 personnel or meet its targets of 71,500 regular force members and 30,000 reservists by 2030.
“It’s too slow of a growth. There really needs to be more aggressive measures,” she said.
“The lack of urgency is quite scary from my point of view.”
DND says the “fluctuation” in the attrition rate is “within the normal range” and consistent with Canada’s allies.
“There are a wide variety of reasons members choose to stay in or leave the CAF, so it is difficult to attribute it to one or a few specific factors,” department spokesperson Derek Abma said in a statement to Global News.
But defence experts point to issues around training and career management, a lack of affordable housing, and pay.
Earlier this month, Defence Minister David McGuinty said CAF personnel will be getting a salary bump, but did not specify when.
“That’s where a lot of the initial investment will be, of course, including a 20 per cent pay increase,” he told reporters June 10.
A day earlier, Carney announced an additional $9.3 billion in military funding to meet the NATO target of spending two per cent of GDP on defence.
Of that, $2.6 billion will go towards recruitment, salary hikes and hiring an additional 1,400 new staff, said government officials, speaking on background, at a technical briefing on June 9.
More than 77,000 people hit “Apply Now” on the Armed Forces’ website, the highest number in five years, but less than 10 per cent — 6,706 – made it to the finish line and enrolled
The military says a large number of people never finish their applications. It’s not clear how many are completed, but Duval-Lantoine insists there isn’t enough staff to handle the intake.
Canada’s former chief of the defence staff, retired general Wayne Eyre, acknowledges there is no “silver bullet” to solve the personnel crisis, but he would like to see the military be less risk-averse, something the CAF, like most government institutions, has struggled with.
“The secret to success is the willingness to experiment, to try new things. If it doesn’t work well, fine. Learn from it. If it does, take it up to scale,” Eyre said.
“We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas…. We’ve got to get as many qualified members of Canadian society in the door as quickly as possible.”
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