Canada announces billions of dollars in military equipment upgrades

A big update from the federal government about the future of the Canadian military, as billions of dollars in new spending on upgrades to equipment like submarines was announced.

But Monday’s long-awaited defence policy update does not include a plan to reach NATO’s spending target, something our allies have had issue with for years.

The federal government plans to spend $8.1 billion over the next five years modernizing the Canadian military, with an eye to defending Canada’s arctic sovereignty.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the money is part of a larger $73 billion plan over the next 20 years.

“We recognize that with climate change, the opening of the northwest passage to ship traffic is going to require a lot more capabilities by Canada to demonstrate and responsibly patrol its own internal waters,” Trudeau said.

“And that’s where we have framed out in this policy update, a need to lean in carefully, determine what kinds of submarines we’re going to need for the coming years, and how best to procure them.”

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The federal government says this includes new submarines, long-range missiles and early-warning aircraft.

The plan will boost military spending to 1.76 per cent of GDP by 2030, but that’s still below the two per cent GDP that Canada and its 31 NATO allies agreed to spend on defence.

NATO’s latest figures show Canada is spending 1.33 per cent of GDP on defence, lagging behind a growing number of countries.

The Liberals first promised an updated defence policy more than two years ago, in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.