Background

Canada’s Defence Policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, offers direction on Canada’s defence priorities over a 20-year horizon. It prioritizes the well-being of military personnel and their families, while emphasizing the need to ensure they are well supported. Military families are the strength behind the uniform and thus an integral part of operational effectiveness.

Few occupations expose people to elevated levels of risk throughout their careers in the way that the CAF does. This includes separation from loved ones and recurring geographic relocation. On average, military families move three times more frequently than their civilian counterparts. Approximately 9,400 CAF members are required to move to a new province or territory annually.

It is recognized that many of the issues associated with frequent relocation are outside the jurisdiction of DND/CAF. This explains why Strong, Secure, Engaged, calls for enhanced dialogue with federal, provincial, and territorial, as well as private sector partners to improve the coordination of services across Canada to ease the burden of frequent postings. The Seamless Canada initiative was launched in 2018 to address these challenges.

The first Seamless Canada conference to collaborate with provincial and territorial representatives took place on June 27, 2018, at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. It was the initial step to implement an important pan-Canadian forum to establish channels of communication and to lay the groundwork for a continuous, collaborative framework between DND/CAF and the provinces and territories. Since then, Seamless Canada continues to evolve and progress with sustained commitment from all provinces and territories to address the main barriers to a smooth relocation experience.