Ottawa, October 21, 2025—A report from Auditor General Karen Hogan tabled today in the House of Commons concludes that the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) had not recruited and trained the members it needed to meet its operational requirements.
The audit found that the CAF planned to recruit just over 19,700 new members between 2022 and 2025 but recruited only around 15,000. As only 1 in 13 applicants were on track to start to basic training, this means that tens of thousands of applicants did not complete the recruitment process. The CAF did not always know why those candidates dropped out. Without knowing why applicants leave, it is difficult to determine what needs to be done differently to increase the number of applicants who successfully complete the recruitment process and move into basic training.
The audit also found that while the CAF had been able to recruit more Indigenous and visible minority members, the representation of women remained well below its goals. The CAF also committed to recruit more permanent residents. While the recruitment rate for this group increased, only 2% of permanent residents who applied were recruited compared with about 10% for Canadian citizens.
The CAF did not have sufficient basic training capacity to meet demand if the recruitment targets had been met. Since recruitment exceeded training capacity in 2024–25, the CAF increased its capacity to train those who were recruited by increasing the number of cohorts and bringing in temporary instructors. However, the CAF recognized that this was not a sustainable way to train new recruits.
The audit found that recruitment and training information technologyIT systems were not integrated, requiring manual data entry and contributing to inefficiencies. Efforts were made to modernize processes including streamlining security screening and the development of a new training management system in 2018, however the management system has not been formally launched, prolonging operational bottlenecks.
“The Canadian Armed Forces continued to have challenges in recruiting and training enough highly skilled recruits to fully staff many occupations such as pilots and ammunition technicians,” Ms. Hogan said. “This could affect the army, navy and air force’s ability to respond to threats, emergencies or conflicts and accomplish their missions.”
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The 2025 Report of the Auditor General of Canada, Recruiting for Canada’s Military, is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada website.
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