Defense Minister Bill Blair stated on Wednesday that more soldiers, sailors, and aircrew are leaving the military faster than can be replaced with new recruits.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, this is happening when there are “a great deal of priorities right now,” including conflicts in Israel and Ukraine, as well as domestic search and rescue operations.“There is a real challenge in the Canadian Armed Forces,” Blair said in Senate Question Period. “Over the last three years, we’ve actually seen greater attrition, more people leaving the Forces than the Canadian Armed Forces has been able to recruit.”“I think that may be the greatest challenge I face as the new defence minister, to do everything I can to support the Armed Forces in their efforts to recruit the talent we need and, just as importantly, to retain the excellent people they already have,” said Blair. “I have asked them to look very carefully at some of the impediments to recruitment and how long things have taken.”On December 5, the military announced that it would allow landed immigrants to join with the promise of faster processing of their citizenship applications.Blair said the program had not succeeded in increasing recruitment numbers.“What we have not yet seen is a commensurate increase in the number of people,” said Blair. “Almost 12,000 people indicated an interest. We need to move faster in our recruitment and onboarding processes.”“Does your biggest concern lie in recruitment?” asked Senator Tony Loffreda (QC). “My concern is not only for recruitment because we have to get the best talent coming in the door, but I am also concerned about retention because we have extraordinary men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces,” replied Blair. “I want to make sure we provide them with the appropriate support.”In a July 5 department of National Defence briefing note Recruitment and Retention, annual recruitment in 2022 fell 35% from 8,069 to 5,242 volunteers.The military’s minimum strength requirement is 60,500 fully trained regular members and they aim to have a working target of 68,000. According to an Inquiry of Ministry presented in the Commons, the cabinet stated that the regular forces currently sits at 63,477 members.In an August 29 report Evaluation of Ready Air and Space Forces the Air Force said it is currently experiencing a "personnel crisis,” as fewer people join the Air Force and more veterans are leaving the service.“The RCAF is experiencing a personnel crisis linked to both recruitment and retention,” said the report. “There are vacancies in a number of key occupations across the RCAF.”
Defense Minister Bill Blair stated on Wednesday that more soldiers, sailors, and aircrew are leaving the military faster than can be replaced with new recruits.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, this is happening when there are “a great deal of priorities right now,” including conflicts in Israel and Ukraine, as well as domestic search and rescue operations.“There is a real challenge in the Canadian Armed Forces,” Blair said in Senate Question Period. “Over the last three years, we’ve actually seen greater attrition, more people leaving the Forces than the Canadian Armed Forces has been able to recruit.”“I think that may be the greatest challenge I face as the new defence minister, to do everything I can to support the Armed Forces in their efforts to recruit the talent we need and, just as importantly, to retain the excellent people they already have,” said Blair. “I have asked them to look very carefully at some of the impediments to recruitment and how long things have taken.”On December 5, the military announced that it would allow landed immigrants to join with the promise of faster processing of their citizenship applications.Blair said the program had not succeeded in increasing recruitment numbers.“What we have not yet seen is a commensurate increase in the number of people,” said Blair. “Almost 12,000 people indicated an interest. We need to move faster in our recruitment and onboarding processes.”“Does your biggest concern lie in recruitment?” asked Senator Tony Loffreda (QC). “My concern is not only for recruitment because we have to get the best talent coming in the door, but I am also concerned about retention because we have extraordinary men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces,” replied Blair. “I want to make sure we provide them with the appropriate support.”In a July 5 department of National Defence briefing note Recruitment and Retention, annual recruitment in 2022 fell 35% from 8,069 to 5,242 volunteers.The military’s minimum strength requirement is 60,500 fully trained regular members and they aim to have a working target of 68,000. According to an Inquiry of Ministry presented in the Commons, the cabinet stated that the regular forces currently sits at 63,477 members.In an August 29 report Evaluation of Ready Air and Space Forces the Air Force said it is currently experiencing a "personnel crisis,” as fewer people join the Air Force and more veterans are leaving the service.“The RCAF is experiencing a personnel crisis linked to both recruitment and retention,” said the report. “There are vacancies in a number of key occupations across the RCAF.”
