Canadian Military’s Regular Force Continues to Lose More Soldiers Than It Recruits

Defence Minister Bill Blair testified in September that the negative trend of attrition outpacing recruitment had been ’reversed.’

Canadian Forces soldiers march during the Calgary Stampede parade in Calgary, Alta., on July 8, 2022. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

There continues to be more Canadian soldiers choosing to leave the Regular Force than there are new recruits joining the ranks.

Defence Minister Bill Blair told a House of Commons committee in September that the negative trend of attrition outpacing recruitment had been reversed. But figures from the Department of National Defence (DND) provided to The Epoch Times show a different story.

Those figures indicate that, while more new soldiers are being recruited into the Regular Force than active duty ones leaving during some months of the year, in general, the trend is negative for 2023.

Excluding transfers between the Regular Force and the Primary Reserve, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) recruited 3,020 new Regular Force members from January to September inclusively.

Over the same period, 3,400 soldiers of the main fighting force left the organization, for a net loss of 380.

Attrition has been running higher than normal in recent years, leading Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre to order a pause to all non-essential activities in October 2022 to undertake force reconstitution.

Rebuilding personnel strength in the CAF has been a priority, and Mr. Blair gave a picture of the situation when he appeared before the Commons defence committee on Sept. 28. He said the trend of attrition outpacing recruitment had been “reversed.”

“In fact, the number of people joining is now exceeding for the first time in nearly three years the attrition, the people that are leaving, and that is good news,” the minister said.

DND did not provide numbers for the CAF Primary Reserve, which is composed of mostly part-time soldiers. Some reservists also serve in full-time capacity on short- to mid-term contracts and participate on deployments.

The month of August, preceding Mr. Blair’s testimony, saw the largest net gain in the Regular Force, excluding Primary Reserve transfers, with 696 new members joining the CAF while 450 members left (+246). The following month there was a net loss of 116.

Only two other months of the year saw net gains, March (+56) and June (+170), while the worst losses were in April (-219) and May (-237).

When including Primary Reserve transfers, the Regular Force has seen a cumulative net loss of 321 soldiers in 2023.

Recruitment and attrition figures in the Canadian military for 2023 as provided by the Department of National Defence. Screenshot of Department of National Defence email

When Mr. Blair participated in a Senate question period on Nov. 1, he struck a different tone from that at the House committee.

“Over the last three years, we’ve actually seen a greater attrition—more people are leaving the forces than the Canadian Armed Forces has been able to recruit,” he said.

He said recruitment and retention “may be the greatest challenge” he faces as defence minister.

The Epoch Times contacted Mr. Blair’s office for comment but didn’t hear back. Follow-up questions were also sent to DND regarding recruitment and attrition numbers in the Primary Reserve.

Conservative MP and defence critic James Bezan criticized Mr. Blair for the information he provided at committee and said the military has been “gutted and left in a state of disrepair” under the Liberal government.

“The facts are that under their watch, more troops have left our forces than have joined every year,” Mr. Bezan told The Epoch Times.

Gen. Eyre told the House defence committee on Sept. 28 that the attrition rate in the CAF was down to 7.1 percent, while it was around 9.1 or 9.2 during the COVID-19 period. He said those numbers made him “cautiously optimistic.”

Leaked DND data obtained by The Epoch Times last year showed the attrition rate was at 13 percent as of November 2022. DND at the time commented on that data and said to not rely on “a non-public interface still in development meant to inform internal audiences.”

Gen. Eyre also said that the total force was short 16,000 soldiers as of Aug. 31, with 10,489 members being in the training pipeline and not ready for operations.