2. Long-term investments to enhance the Canadian Armed Forces’ capabilities and capacity to support peace and security

The scale of our re-investment in the Canadian Armed Forces is significant. This long-term investment is meant to modernize, renew and restore this vital national institution and provide our women and men in uniform with the modern tools they need to succeed in – and return home safely from – operations.

In their valour, competence, compassion and humanitarianism, this country’s sailors, soldiers, and airwomen and men exemplify the best of what it means to be Canadian. They bear the standard for our country abroad, in supporting peace and security, and at home, in times of natural disaster. They shoulder the interlinked burdens of keeping us safe, promoting our values, and helping make the world a better place.

For all these reasons, Canadians want a military that is agile, highly trained, superbly equipped, capable and professional. This policy delivers exactly that. To ensure the Canadian Armed Forces has the people and capabilities it needs to succeed, the Government of Canada is committed to the largest defence modernization effort in decades. This policy contains a comprehensive and funded plan to invest in key emerging domains while simultaneously recapitalizing the core capabilities of the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army, and the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The Canadian Armed Forces will grow by 3,500 (to 71,500 total) military personnel. This will allow us to expand in important areas such space and cyber, intelligence and targeting, and support to the health and welfare of military personnel. These investments will provide the necessary flexibility to enable the Canadian Armed Forces to operate across the spectrum of conflict, enable interoperability with Canada’s allies, and maintain an operational advantage over the threats of today and tomorrow.

The investments in equipment and materiel necessary to underwrite Canada’s future force will match the significant investment in its personnel. The Royal Canadian Navy will acquire 15 Canadian Surface Combatant ships to replace its existing frigates and retired destroyers. This policy now provides the full funding for all 15 ships; this will be one of the largest acquisitions in Canadian shipbuilding history and makes up a core part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS).

The Canadian Army will undergo a recapitalization of much of its land combat capabilities and its aging vehicle fleets while modernizing its command and control systems. Additionally, it will expand its light forces capability which will allow it to be more adaptable in complex operational theatres.

The Royal Canadian Air Force will acquire 88 future fighter aircraft to enforce Canada’s sovereignty and to meet Canada’s NORAD and NATO commitments, while recapitalizing many of its existing aircraft fleets such as the CP-140 Aurora anti-submarine warfare and surveillance aircraft.

Finally, the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command will expand its operational capacity and invest in capabilities that enable Canada’s rapidly deployable and agile Special Forces to provide their unique skills both at home and abroad. In addition to these key investments, this defence policy identifies a number of capability areas in the Reserve Force which will also be funded.

The Canadian Armed Forces has taken great strides in recent years to improve the overall integration of Canada’s military capabilities, as well as the interaction with other government departments, to ensure the security and defence of Canada. The Canadian Armed Forces will leverage the unique characteristics of naval, army, air, and special operations forces and better integrate them to ensure continued Canadian and allied military advantage. The continued integration of Primary Reserve training and equipment with the Regular Force has also contributed substantially to Canadian Armed Forces operations. As our capabilities evolve, the skills inherent in the Reserve Force will produce full-time capabilities through part-time service.

National Shipbuilding Strategy

The National Shipbuilding Strategy is a long-term project to renew Canada’s federal fleet of combat and non-combat vessels. Partnerships were formed with two Canadian shipyards to deliver much-needed vessels to the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard. The Strategy provides jobs and benefits to Canadians and rebuilds our country’s industry.

Royal Canadian Navy

Naval forces provide Canada with a responsive and agile means to respond across a wide spectrum of maritime situations, and serve as an instrument of national power on the international stage. Canada possesses a vast maritime estate – it has the world’s longest coastline, the second largest continental shelf, and the fifth largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world. This calls for naval forces that are designed and structured to operate in some of the most extreme ocean conditions. Further, since a large part of Canada’s prosperity relies on the maintenance of free and open access to international waters for trade and commerce, Canada requires a Navy that is organized and sized to project power responsively and effectively far from Canada’s shores.

This Blue Water Navy requires a balanced mix of platforms, including submarines, surface combatants, support ships and patrol vessels, in sufficient quantities to meet our domestic and international needs. A fleet built around an ability to deploy and sustain two naval task groups, each composed of up to four combatants and a joint support ship, provides Canada with a relevant contribution to any international mission while assuring the ability to monitor our own ocean estate and contribute to the security of North America. The Royal Canadian Navy’s ability to establish persistent presence, be self-sustaining at sea, refocus rapidly from one type of mission to another, and interdict threats far from national territory and populated areas represents a vital component of Canada’s prosperity, security, and defence.

The Royal Canadian Navy’s flexibility, global reach, and staying power, allow it to succeed across a broad mission set: combat operations, rapid provision of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to those in need, defence diplomacy, and collaborating with other government departments and agencies on a daily basis in support of domestic defence and security.

Underpinning this naval capability will be a continued emphasis on building and maintaining a picture of what is happening in our own waters and increasingly overseas – as a means to anticipate and respond to threats, in cooperation with other government departments and agencies as appropriate, as well as our allies. Armed with better awareness and understanding, the Royal Canadian Navy must be able to adapt to an ever-changing maritime environment. The Maritime Tactical Operations Group (MTOG) boarding team capability is an example of this adaptability – it provides an innovative response to the changing nature of threats associated with interdicting vessels at sea. In addition, as the complexity of naval operations increases in the modern threat environment, the Navy will continue to pursue interoperability with allied capabilities. This will ensure that Canada’s fleet can work seamlessly with allies and is positioned to directly leverage these capabilities, increasing its own effectiveness and bolstering credible joint and allied action.

With new investment, Canada’s Navy will be capable of meeting the anticipated defence and security challenges of the coming decades. Principal among the challenges at home is the need to operate in the Arctic, alongside the Canadian Coast Guard, and alongside allied partners. Key to this is the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) project, which is part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy and involves the delivery of five to six ice-capable ships to the Royal Canadian Navy. AOPS will provide armed, sea-borne surveillance of Canadian waters, including in the Arctic. They will enforce sovereignty, cooperating with partners, at home and abroad, and will provide the Government of Canada with awareness of activities in Canada’s waters.

Beyond Canada’s shores, the capability to undertake peace operations, including effectively rendering humanitarian assistance and relieving distress, will be a requirement for the Royal Canadian Navy. Canada’s naval forces will also be positioned to contribute meaningfully to joint action ashore and support the sustainment of joint operations from sea, while preserving the ability to defend its own freedom of action through naval combat operations. The multi-purpose nature and versatility of this fleet, both independently and as part of an allied or coalition Task Force, allows Canada to rapidly deploy credible naval forces worldwide, on short notice.

Canadian Army

The Canadian Army is a highly professional force consisting of a fully integrated Regular Force, Army Reserve, Canadian Rangers, and civilian personnel. Canadian soldiers train to maintain readiness and develop their high-end war-fighting skills. Experience shows that highly trained, versatile and well-equipped combat forces can rapidly adapt to humanitarian assistance, disaster relief or peace operations.

The Canadian Army is agile, scalable and responsive, providing the Government with a range of military capabilities on land. The Army can deploy as little as a single individual to perform tasks such as capacity building, and it has the depth to permanently shape the security environment through effective deterrence of threats and ultimately, with a critical mass of troops on the ground, to prevail in the most difficult circumstances – combat with an advanced adversary. The flexibility to support small missions while remaining ready to conduct large operations is made possible by the brigade group structure of the Army. It is only at this level that it is possible to execute integrated joint operations with the rest of the Canadian Armed Forces, other government departments, NATO and other allies and partner forces, and non-governmental organizations.

The Army’s operational effectiveness relies on realistic, challenging and regular training up to the brigade group-level. This ensures that deployed Army formations can succeed in any environment regardless of condition.

To adapt to the changing security environment, the Army’s capabilities must allow for efficient and effective communication, command and control; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; manoeuvre; the application of firepower; and sustainment. Maintaining the proper mix of combat capabilities, the ability to operate jointly with the rest of the Canadian military and in concert with key allies and partners is crucial for the Army’s success.

Furthermore, each soldier is an integral component in any task-force, able to anticipate conditions on the ground, provide and receive information and intelligence to and from higher levels, and contribute to taking action at the right time and place in order to achieve mission objectives. All of these capabilities must be networked and integrated, starting with the individual systems carried by each soldier.

Fundamental to future effectiveness as a combat-ready force, the Canadian Army will recapitalize many core capabilities, such as command, control and communications systems, weapons and soldier night vision systems, and logistic vehicle fleets. The Canadian Army will continue to pursue investment in war-fighting capabilities such as ground-based air defence, bridge and gap crossing equipment, anti-tank guided missile systems, and vehicles to better operate in Canada’s north. These investments in the Canadian Army will further improve interoperability with the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy, Special Operations Forces, and Canada’s allies and partners, while maintaining its operational advantage over potential adversaries.

Royal Canadian Air Force

The Royal Canadian Air Force is an agile and integrated force whose reach and power is essential to Canadian Armed Forces operations at home and abroad. Given the vastness of Canada’s territory, it is vitally important for the Canadian Armed Forces to be able to operate throughout Canada on very short notice – the Air Force makes this possible. This strategic reach is also a critical enabler of Canadian Armed Forces global expeditionary operations, enabling joint action through control of the air, force protection, surveillance and reconnaissance, air mobility, and air attack. As space-based capabilities become ever-more important for security and defence, the Royal Canadian Air Force will take on an increasingly important role coordinating and overseeing the defence space program. The Air Force can be task tailored and integrated in a networked force. Every Royal Canadian Air Force platform, be it piloted, remotely piloted or space-based, also acts as a sensor, ensuring that information and intelligence gets to decision-makers in a timely fashion.

The Royal Canadian Air Force generates space-based and aviation surveillance of Canadian territory and its approaches; maintains 24/7 aerial search and rescue response capabilities; and assists civil authorities in responding to a wide range of challenges and threats, from natural disasters to terrorist attacks. Through NORAD, the Royal Canadian Air Force makes substantial contributions to continental defence, generating the vital capabilities required to detect, deter, and defeat threats to both Canada and North America.

The Royal Canadian Air Force also plays a large role in all Canadian deployed operations and is in high demand for NATO, United Nations (UN) peacekeeping, and other coalition missions contributing to international peace and security. Therefore, Royal Canadian Air Force space-based and aviation capabilities must be multi-purpose – equally relevant to domestic and international operations, capable of incorporating and adapting to the latest technology, integrated with all of the capabilities in the Canadian Armed Forces, and interoperable with core allies. These missions have often relied heavily on the strategic and tactical air transport capability provided by the C-17 and C-130J fleets.

In addition, conducting operations from its bases in Canada, the Royal Canadian Air Force will be able to operate from prepared or austere airfields anywhere in the world with an Air Task Force composed of a range of aircraft types.

To continue to meet Canada’s defence needs, the Royal Canadian Air Force must increase interoperability with its key partners and core allies. It will need to sustain existing capacity and continue to acquire modern aerospace capabilities that have an operational advantage in relation to present and future potential adversaries. Future aerospace capabilities must provide for the seamless integration with partners and sharing of information. The Royal Canadian Air Force must be capable of contributing to and exploiting a system-of-systems approach that now defines most modern military forces.

Moreover, the effectiveness of the Royal Canadian Air Force requires continued investment in professional development and education programs focused on the theory and practical application of aerospace power, training programs and systems of the highest calibre, and an institutional culture placing the highest value on the maintenance of air safety and airworthiness standards. Taken together, this assures the agility and flexibility of the Air Force.

Canadian Special Operations Forces Command

Special Operations Forces are small, highly skilled, adaptable, multi-purpose forces held at very high readiness levels. Special Operations Forces are employed in situations that pose an imminent threat to national interests, where the use of larger military forces is inappropriate or undesirable, in operational environments where access is limited, and against high-value targets.

These situations benefit from small, well-planned or precision tactical operations. Such activities include: domestic and international counter-terrorist response, discrete intelligence collection, surveillance and reconnaissance activities, specialized capacity building to assist allied host nation forces, and immediate reaction in response to emergent or imminent threats. Flexible, scaleable Special Operations Task Forces often play a role in longer-term military missions but the limited numbers of highly skilled individuals at the heart of such forces typically deploy for limited durations of time.

Canada’s Special Operations Forces structure is lean. It consists of a headquarters commanding Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2) – Canada’s military counter-terrorism unit; the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit (CJIRU) – Canada’s military Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear detection and response unit; the Canadian Special Operations Regiment; the Special Operations Aviation Squadron; and the Canadian Special Operations Training Centre.

At its core, Canada’s Special Operations Forces are focused on a cooperative joint, inter-agency, and multinational approach to operations. In order to meet future challenges, the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command will continue this cooperation to support government decision-making in security situations, including counter-terrorism efforts. Additionally, the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command will support international peace and security missions, and contribute to and harness the ‘Global Special Operations Forces Network’ consisting of allied Special Operations Forces.

The lean nature and unique characteristics of Canada’s Special Operations Forces require sustained and tailored investment to ensure continuity and effectiveness over the long-term.

Canadian Armed Forces Joint Capabilities

Joint capabilities are generally those that facilitate the enhanced command and control of deployed Canadian Armed Forces elements and are fundamental to the Canadian Armed Forces’ ability to anticipate, adapt and act in response to Government of Canada priorities.

The uncertainty and volatility of the security environment, the evolution of technology, and the time required for the development of the people, equipment, systems, and methods that comprise military capability require consistent, sustained, predictable investment. The capability investments outlined in this policy will ensure the Canadian Armed Forces’ preparedness for the future through the development, sustainment and enhancement of the core combat and critical enabling capabilities necessary for an integrated, innovative, flexible, adaptable, and interoperable force.

These investments will provide the Government of Canada and Canadians with a capable, adaptable military able to promote and protect Canadian interests and values at home and abroad.

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