Get involved with Canadian Armed Forces recruitment
Recruitment Overview
As the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) continue to support Canada’s national and international interests, bolstering our recruitment is critical. Appealing to potential recruits has become harder due to increased competition for qualified candidates, misconceptions about the military environment, and changing workplace values. As a result, basic outreach efforts are no longer attracting enough new members.
This personnel generation challenge provides us with a unique opportunity to deliberately refocus and inspire Canadians to see themselves excelling and thriving within our ranks.
New Advertising Campaign
To improve recruitment, we developed a new advertising campaign called “This Is For You.” The goal is to increase CAF awareness and presence across media platforms and showcase how military service can be a fulfilling career. There is no better time to join than now, as the CAF is actively seeking Canadians and permanent residents who are willing to answer the call to serve Canada and be a part of our team.
In alignment with the CDS/DM Directive for CAF Reconstitution and OP UNIFIED RECRUITER, we are looking to support recruitment efforts by enabling each member of the CAF to continue promoting this great organization. Our members are the best ambassadors for recruitment, and your involvement contributes to the success of this campaign, whether that’s in the form of lending your voice or simply spreading the word about the incredible opportunities available to those who join our ranks.
While these advertisements will keep the CAF in the Canadian public consciousness, the most effective recruiting tool is the voice of current or former members of the CAF. We believe that together we can convey what it means to serve our country proudly as part of the CAF and create an atmosphere of enthusiasm and excitement surrounding military service.
How You Can Get Involved
- Learn about our “This Is For You” campaign.
- Support the campaign by sharing or commenting on social media and encouraging positivity.
- Share your stories, experiences, and values with the community to build support.
- Volunteer to help at recruitment events.
- Contact a Public Affairs Officer if you have any questions.
Campaign Overview
The “This Is For You” campaign was developed to counter the traditional military advertisement and show audiences people they can relate to. The concept recognizes every person’s unique ability to make an impact and demonstrates to the audience that their innate strengths and qualities are transferable to the CAF.
“This Is For You” shows civilians that the military has a wide range of opportunities and each person can find a role that fits their needs and/or interests. The campaign aims to benefit both the military as a whole and the civilian recruits it reaches. We are strengthening our numbers to support military activity, while also empowering each individual who joins us with a stable career that provides new and practical skills, a sense of purpose, and future opportunities.
It was critical to showcase diverse backgrounds and interests to speak to audiences who may not recognize what the military can offer. By seeing roles outside of combat, audiences begin to understand that the CAF has a wide range of careers available that fit many different skill sets.
The campaign was filmed off base in British Columbia using actors. These decisions were made for several reasons:
- Working with actors ensured we had greater control over who was featured in the advertisements and reduced the strain on military resources.
- Filming off-base allowed us to better reflect our audiences’ personal lives. The off-base scenarios feature a wide range of activities that civilians find relatable, which increases the emotional connection they feel to these stories.
- Using off-base locations added greater flexibility in the scenarios depicted as there were fewer approvals and reviews during the filming process. By leveraging diverse scenarios, a wider range of the general public can see themselves and their values in the ads and in the CAF as a whole.
- Hiring actors allowed us to ensure scenarios felt as realistic as possible with greater emotional performances that would be difficult for those not professionally trained. This heightened emotion increases audience connection, which in turn increases the campaign’s overall impact.
The development of this campaign was grounded in research on the key demographic groups critical to bolstering recruitment numbers. Content is designed to reflect what these groups look for in a career and encourage their interest in the CAF.
In order to ensure that the ads resonated with our target audience (Canadians 18-34 years old), cross-country focus testing was conducted throughout the production process. These focus groups garnered mostly positive comments, which demonstrated that the key messages of the ads rang true with those groups of individuals we are aiming to attract.
Creative Material
This campaign will yield the following creative materials:
- One 90-second video advertisement
- Two 30-second video advertisements
- Seven 30-second video advertisements
- Seven 15-second video advertisements
- Four 6-second video advertisements
- Static image advertisements
CAF Testimonials
“The ads invoked a sense of pride in me. I believe the internal audience, our currently serving members, will stand a little taller after seeing the new campaign. Just like I did, they will probably think to themselves: This IS For ME.”
- Col Nickolas Roby, Commander CFRG
“The thing that struck me most was that this was the first time the CAF has created something that is for the prospect. An ad that doesn’t showcase us, the CAF, and what makes us great, but an ad that showcases civilians and what makes them great. As a CAF member, it’s reminded me of why I joined and makes me feel proud to be connected with so many amazing and talented people.”
- Sgt Shilo Adamson
“The Awareness 2023 campaign ads are unlike their predecessors. The ads not only reflect our society in this day and age but also speak to the type of individuals we want in rank and file. Watching the clips, no longer do you get the sense that the CAF wants to ‘mould’ you or ‘change’ you into what ‘they’ want. Rather, the CAF wants you – for you, the diverse skillset and backgrounds, etc. This is an organization that celebrates traditions, culture, and diversity – an inclusive organization that welcomes change.”
- Sgt Usama Mehmood
Do You Have Feedback? Let Us Know!
Do you have any feedback about this campaign? If so, feel free to send it to ADM(PA)'s Advertising and Marketing team. Advertising-Publicite@forces.gc.ca
Your testimonial could be posted here as well!
Q&A Section
Why did we use actors as opposed to CAF members?
As discussed above, we wanted to leverage those who are professionally trained in performance to heighten the emotion and action on screen.
Why do the ads have a civilian focus?
This was a conscious decision to allow those outside the CAF to relate better to what was being presented. We wanted audiences to connect to the people, stories, and qualities depicted in the civilian scenarios to demonstrate how a civilian can be suited to join the military. The civilian environments and activities also allowed for a more diverse range of interests to be shown on screen, creating greater relatability.
Why is there such a focus on the uniform?
We wanted to highlight the CAF uniform as a symbol of strength, resilience, passion, and humanity. Conceptually, the growth of the CADPAT pattern and texture of military fabric alludes to the development of one’s potential to make an impact.
Why didn’t we shoot the ads on base?
The footage was captured off base to build a greater connection to civilian life, as discussed above. It helps showcase how the CAF relates to the lives of those who may not believe the organization has something to offer them. Off-base footage also allowed for greater creative flexibility, allowing us to tailor stories to audiences and make them feel relatable.
How did we ensure the integrity of the CAF was upheld even though the ads do not feature actual CAF members?
The Marketing and Adverting team and the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group (CFRG) worked collaboratively throughout the production process of these new ads. CFRG and the environments were consulted numerous times to ensure that representation of the CAF assets and the uniforms featured in the ads were correct. Two CAF members were also on set during the filming of the various scenes to verify that the demeanor of the actors well represented the values of the CAF.
Help Unite Our Forces For This Recruitment Effort
As stated in the Canadian Armed Forces Ethos: Trusted to Serve doctrine, the CAF stands for inclusion, courage, loyalty, integrity, accountability, and above all else, excellence. We see our members display this every day. We believe in the message of this campaign that the skills, values, and interests you have as a civilian are transferrable and can lead to an amazing career in the CAF.
CAF members can refer to the following tools/references when engaging in recruitment activities:
Follow the Canadian Armed Forces on social media
Do you have feedback? Let us know!
Do you have any feedback about this campaign? If so, feel free to send it to ADM(PA)'s Advertising and Marketing team. Advertising-Publicite@forces.gc.ca