The Canadian military’s long-delayed plan to replace its aging cache of C7 and C8 service rifles is finally moving forward.The CBC reports that Ottawa is preparing to fast-track the Canadian Modular Assault Rifle (CMAR) program, which will overhaul the army’s entire rifle inventory for the first time in several decades.The move comes as part of a broader effort to expand military readiness and meet NATO’s 2% defence spending target, a goal that has been pushed by Prime Minister Mark Carney.Lt.-Gen. Mike Wright, the commanding officer of the Canadian Army, confirmed that the long-stalled procurement is now imminent, with expected delivery from a Canadian manufacturer.“We’re on the cusp of signing a contract that will see those rifles start to be delivered to the Canadian Army as of next year,” Wright said.If the plan is finalized on schedule, the purchase would arrive almost two years ahead of the army’s last publicly posted timeline.An internal Department of National Defence (DND) presentation indicated that officials are preparing to quickly place the first order under the CMAR program..The presentation did not include final costs or delivery dates, but the DND’s defence capabilities website estimates the program’s value at between $500 million and $1 billion.A July 2025 DND equipment briefing outlined plans to acquire up to 65,401 modern rifles, with an option to scale up procurement to as many as 300,000 units if Ottawa moves ahead with its newly announced plan to expand the military’s supplemental reserve force.The new rifles and the updated Canadian Disruptive Pattern (CADPAT) day-to-day uniforms are seen internally as key morale boosters for a force still reliant on equipment introduced during the Afghanistan conflict in the 2000s.While Wright has declined to name the Canadian supplier, Colt Canada of Kitchener, Ont., the military’s longtime primary rifle manufacturer, is considered to be the leading contender.A domestic supplier would help bolster the Liberals’ pitch to rebuild Canada’s defence industrial base and possibly ease political friction over other high-profile purchases.Also near the top of the army’s equipment priority list are drones and new BV 206 all-terrain carriers specifically designed for deployment in the Arctic region..Military to spend over $100,000 on personality training.These upgrades are part of a sweeping modernization effort unveiled earlier this year that is designed to shift the army toward large-scale, high-intensity warfare rather than the counter-insurgency operations that dominated the Afghan war.That modernization intersects with the military’s recently acknowledged mobilization plan, which envisions a future reserve pool of as many as 300,000 citizen soldiers.The Canadian Army currently fields roughly 22,500 regular force members and 21,500 in the primary reserve.Wright has emphasized that his immediate priority is stabilizing the existing force.“I’m focused on fixing the house that we have,” he stated.The proposed expansion envisioned under mobilization planning is still the plan for the future, but “it’s not tomorrow or next year that they’ll be arriving.”
