By Scott Taylor
Canada's military, or lack thereof has been in the international spotlight recently due to some flippant comments by US President-Elect Donald Trump. Along with threatening the use of military force against the sovereign states of Panama and Denmark, Trump continues to float the notion of him somehow annexing Canada into becoming America's 51st State through 'economic pressure'.
While it is somewhat insulting to patriotic Canadians that we would happily embrace the loss of our national status to become Americans, it is doubly insulting that Trump would not even threaten Canada with military force.
The truth is, that in its current state of readiness, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) could offer nothing more than symbolic defiance in the face of a US military occupation.
Those who closely follow the fortunes of the CAF know that successive government neglect by both the Harper Conservatives and the Trudeau Liberals since the end of our commitment in Afghanistan in 2014 have crippled a once proud institution. Due to a combination of stalled recruiting not keeping pace with those service members seeking to release from the CAF there is an existential personnel shortfall.
The current authorized strength of the Canadian Forces regular ranks is 71,500, but as of November 15, 2024, the total strength of the CAF regular force was actually at only 63,940. According to Defence department statistics, there is no shortage of Canadians willing to enlist in the CAF. The recruiting backlog stems from the fact that due to the personnel shortfall, training establishments can only process a trickle of recruits per year.
With all three branches of the CAF already failing to meet their operational objectives this conundrum will only be exacerbated in the months to come.
Sure, the CAF can streamline the background security checks on would be recruits to get them into the training pipeline on an expedited basis. However, once in uniform, these raw recruits need experienced service members to train them.
To this end the defence department needs to stop the exodus from the ranks. The promise of better housing, fewer postings, improved health care and higher compensation may entice a few veterans to stay on.
However, given the fact that 'toxic leadership' has been cited as one of the primary causes of service-member discontent, there will be a level of doubt as to the veracity of those promised improvements. The answer to stopping short-term retirements is retention bonuses.
The good news is that the senior leadership of the CAF already know this fact. The bad news is that they have thus far failed to implement it. Back in October 2024, Lt-Gen Lise Bourgon, the Chief of Military Personnel, was given a briefing regarding the reconstitution of the CAF.
Under the heading, “additional resources sought,” is the recommendation to bring in “Retention Bonus (specific occupations).” At present the CAF does not have retention bonuses but in recent years they have offered signing bonuses to recruits with specific professional skill sets.
Both the UK and US militaries, both of whom also face crippling personnel shortages, have implemented retention bonuses for key trades people. The British offer between $54,000 for aircraft engineers to re-enlist for a minimum of three years, to a $14,000 bonus for an infantry private wishing to re-enlist for that same timeframe. The US Airforce is even more generous as they are offering bonuses to 89 key trade qualifications with dollar amounts ranging from $260,000 to $520,000.
For those who might think such bonuses seem exorbitant, it should be remembered that there are large costs associated with the training of military personnel. The estimated cost to train a CF-18 Hornet fighter pilot to just a basic level is about $7.5 million. Offering an experienced pilot $250,000 to re-enlist for 5 years would save the CAF a lot of money in the short term.
If you take the cost of properly training a combat infantry soldier, the average investment is over $100,000. Therefore, a $25,000 re-signing bonus for an additional three years of service in the infantry would keep the expertise and experience in uniform and save the CAF the expense of training a replacement.
Another key point to remember is that those trained personnel in these combat trades have already proven themselves capable of the task. Many would-be recruits will wash out during training thereby costing the taxpayer money without actually providing a tangible asset to the CAF.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush as the old saying goes. Sometimes a fat retention bonus is the wiser investment.
