By Scott Taylor
As a combat formation the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are woefully understrength.
Due to a lengthy period of recruitment failing to keep pace with the number of personnel releasing from the CAF, there are currently 16,500 vacancies from a combined regular and reserves authorized strength of 105,000 personnel. This phenomenon has been called a 'Death Spiral' for the CAF by none other than Defence Minister Bill Blair.
Now comes word that of those personnel remaining in uniform, those uniforms are getting a little tight. A recent Ottawa Citizen headline read 'Almost three-quarters of Canadian Troops are overweight or obese: documents'. That is a staggering statistic and one which defies logic. One would think that the very nature of the occupation would require a high level of physical fitness.
Yet according to a series of briefings presented to senior military leaders in June 2024, forty-four percent of personnel in the CAF are overweight and another 28 percent are classified as obese.
For those of you thinking that this simply reflects Canadian society, think again. The CAF statistics are actually worse than that of the general population. Roughly 78 percent of military men are considered overweight or obese while only 68 percent of Canadian civilian males are in that category.
Canadian military women did better than their male comrades with 57 percent considered to be overweight or obese. However the national average among Canadian civilian women is only 53 percent in the overweight or obese category.
This was not always the case. Back in 1989, a CAF survey recorded that 22 per cent of military members were considered overweight or obese at a time when over 30 percent of the Canadian public was in that category. However back in that era 22 percent of service personnel being 'overweight and obese' was considered unacceptable. Should any service-member fail to pass an annual fitness test, it would result in a strictly enforced six month stint on remedial physical training (PT). Any subsequent failure to meet the standards could result in administrative action being taken to have the individual released from the CAF.
That is no longer the case. In her response to Ottawa Citizen reporter David Pugliese, DND spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin said that the Canadian Forces does not track data “on the number of members who have been subject to administrative action or release in relation to physical fitness issues that may cause medical employment limitations.”
And there in lies the rub. With the current existential threat of the 'death spiral' shortage of personnel, the CAF cannot exacerbate that shortage by releasing, or threatening to release members who have lapsed into obesity.
For those who want to heap all blame for the CAF's current shortcomings on the 'toxic leadership' and lack of political will, I'm afraid that the state of physical fitness among service members is the responsibility of those service members. Peer support and encouragement would also work better than the threat of career termination.
One could argue that the recent experiment in relaxing the CAF's regulations on hairstyles, facial hair, hair colour, tattoos and piercings may have eroded the Esprit de Corps of the institution. However when it comes to a members' personal fitness, there is no excuse for relaxing standards.
To have a worse fitness record than the general population should be an embarrassment to the CAF.
Unlike the failure of the government to purchase new equipment and weapons, this latest CAF media crap-storm is on the members themselves.
