Spending and human resources

In this section

• Spending
• Funding
• Financial statement highlights
• Human resources

Spending

This section presents an overview of the department's actual and planned expenditures from FY 2021–22 to FY 2026–27.

Graph 1: Actual spending by core responsibility in FY 2023-24.

Analysis of actual spending by core responsibility

This is a combination of the variance explanations that are published to GCInfoBase and the following notes on the Performance Summary tab:

• Due to rounding, figures may not add up to totals shown; and
• Where the actual spending amount is higher than the total authorities, this does not represent an over-expenditure of Parliamentary authorities. Parliamentary authorities are allocated by vote and not by core responsibility and program.

Significant variances in financial resources are detailed at the core responsibility and program level in the "Supporting information on the program inventory" section of the document. Explanations are provided when the variance is at least 100 million or when the difference between the actual and the planned amount is 100%.

Budgetary performance summary

Analysis of the past three years of spending

This is a combination of the variance explanations that are published to GCInfoBase and the following notes on the Performance Summary tab:

• Due to rounding, figures may not add up to totals shown;
• Where the actual spending amount is higher than the total authorities, this does not represent an over-expenditure of Parliamentary authorities. Parliamentary authorities are allocated by vote and not by core responsibility and program; and
• Significant variances in financial resources are detailed at the core responsibility and program level in the "Supporting information on the program inventory" section of the document. Explanations are provided when the variance is at least 100 million or when the difference between the actual and the planned amount is 100%.

More financial information from previous years is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.

More detailed financial information from previous years is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.

Information on the alignment of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces' spending with Government of Canada's spending and activities is available on GC InfoBase.

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Funding

This section provides an overview of the department's voted and statutory funding for its core responsibilities and for internal services. For further information on funding authorities, consult the Government of Canada budgets and expenditures.

Graph 2: Approved funding (statutory and voted) over a six-year period.

For further information on the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces' departmental voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada.

Financial statement highlights

The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces' complete financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2024, are available online.

The 2023-24 planned results information is provided in the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces' Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and Notes 2023–24.

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Human resources

This section presents an overview of the department's actual and planned human resources from FY 2021–22 to FY 2026–27.

Analysis of human resources over the last three years

Analysis of human resources for the next three years

The Reserve Force is a valued and integrated component of Defence. It is divided into four distinct sub-components:

• Primary Reserve;
• Cadet Organization Administration and Training Service;
• Canadian Rangers; and
• Supplementary Reserve (Strategic Reserve).

The Primary Reserve (PRes) consists of part-time professional Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members, located throughout Canada, who respond with appropriate notice to conduct or contribute to CAF defence and security objectives domestically, on the continent, and internationally. In 2023, the Chief of the Defence Staff issued a landmark transformative strategy: "Enabling Full-Time Capability Through Part-Time Service: A New Vision for the Reserve Force". This Vision outlines the necessity towards achieving the fundamental change for the Reserve Force, as outlined in Strong, Secure, Engaged: Canada's Defence Policy, and how the Reserve force (primarily the PRes) can best contribute to the CAF overarching reconstitution, modernization, culture change, and operational readiness efforts. These endeavors are geared towards achieving the directed level of an average paid strength of 30,000 in areas where their efforts and outputs deliver maximum value. The objectives and key tenets of this Vision will continue to be implemented at the Department of National Defence (DND)/CAF and integrated into all strategic planning activities. As with other portions of the CAF, such implementation will remain challenged by the ongoing resource (people and financial) limitations and the decline in the size of the CAF, including the reserve component.

The Cadet Organizations Administration and Training Service (COATS) sub-component consists predominantly of part-time CAF members, located throughout Canada, primarily assigned to duties relating to the supervision, administration and training of youth who are enrolled in Royal Canadian Sea Cadet, Royal Canadian Army Cadet, and Royal Canadian Air Cadet programs. The COATS component currently comprises 6,483 CAF members in three military occupations: Cadet Instructors Cadre officers, General Service Officers and General Service Non-Commissioned Members. The current target strength of 8,000 COATS personnel is required to support the CAF's responsibility for the Department's Youth Programs (Cadets and Junior Canadian Rangers).

Progress in achieving the expansion set out in the Canadian Rangers 2019 Master Implementation Directive was limited. Recruitment and retention issues besetting the CAF are also prevalent within the Canadian Rangers Corps. As of 31 March 2024, there were 4,960 Canadian Rangers, down from 5,131, during the previous fiscal year.

The reduction in Canadian Ranger strength owes to the drop in recruitment during fiscal year (FY)s 2020-21 and 2021-22 is due to public health measures, coupled with retention issues and recruitment not keeping pace with normal attrition. While recruitment has picked up in earnest, it is not anticipated to offset departures for some time.

Staffing of Canadian Ranger Patrol Group Headquarters remained static at approximately 70% across the Canadian Army in FY 2023-24. Given the vacancies across the CAF, the Canadian Army is exploring enabling Canadian Ranger Patrol Group Headquarters staff through reduction of work by streamlining processes and reduction of unnecessary documentation rather than merely through growth and increased staffing levels.

The following table provides the total planned human resources for Reserve Force personnel for the next three FY's, from 2024-25 to 2026-27.

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