Trudeau to attend NATO summit in DC while allies criticize lack of required defense spending

With another NATO summit in Washington, D.C. this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is certain to hear a familiar refrain from the United States and much of Europe about how Canada continues to spend money on national defense that is well below the two percent of GDP threshold demanded of the 75-year-old military alliance.

Twenty-three of 32 NATO member nations are in line to achieve that objective this year, while Canada remains well behind at approximately 1.3 percent. Former Canadian ambassador to NATO Kerry Buck told CBC News that Trudeau can expect to get an earful from the leaders of other NATO members when they meet privately.



"It's used as a political club," Buck said, referring to the two percent goal. "And no doubt, unless there's a signal before the summit, Canada will get beaten about the head and shoulders.

Former President Donald Trump called Trudeau "two-faced" at the December 2019 NATO summit because of Canada's parsimonious defense spending. According to figures from NATO, Canada spent $36.7 billion or 1.29 per cent of GDP on its military in 2023. Only Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg lagged behind Canada.

NATO has been talking about member states meeting the two percent objective since 2006, but this became an expectation in 2014 when NATO issued a formal declaration announcing this fiscal goal.

The Trudeau government unveiled another new defense policy document in April 2024 titled Our North, Strong and Free: A Renewed Vision for Canada's Defence that promised massive military spending – in the distant future. There's a promise of $8.1 billion in new spending over five years and another $73 billion over 20 years, but no guarantees that these pledges won't be undone by other pressing fiscal demands or reimagined by other governments with other priorities.

Even if the current government upholds its commitments, defense spending will only rise to 1.76 per cent of GDP by 2029-30. "This is a significant increase in defence spending and is a major step forward in our effort to reach two per cent of GDP, as agreed by NATO members at the Vilnius Summit in 2023," the policy document says.

"We need a robust military that can defend Canada and protect Canadians at home, including in our North, while defending North America and our national interests abroad with Allies and partners," Defense Minister Bill Blair announced in a news release heralding the new defense policy.

The military only saw a marginal increase in defense spending in Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's 2024 budget that might actually be cut because of contradictory demands from the Trudeau government that the Department of National Defence find ways to reduce its spending.

However, government frugality on defense is only one problem. Canada has given away so much of its ammunition to Ukraine over the past two years that it has virtually none left in stock and can't replenish that supply. Most of Canada's Leopard tanks are presumed destroyed on the Ukrainian battlefields.

Moreover, much of Canada's military equipment is usable: 54 percent of the Royal Canadian Navy's frigates, submarines, arctic and offshore patrol ships, and maritime coastal defense vessels; 55 percent of the Royal Canadian Air Force's fighters, maritime aviation, search and rescue, tactical aviation, and transport aircraft; and 46 percent of the Canadian Army's armored fighting vehicles, artillery, combat support vehicles, logistics equipment, combat support vehicles, and logistics equipment.