Open this photo in gallery: Canadian soldiers work on a CH-147F Chinook helicopter during an Arctic training and sovereignty operation in Inuvik, N.W.T, in March. Prime Minister Mark Carney is boosting Canada's defence spending to meet NATO's 2-per-cent target, citing threats to sovereignty. COLE BURSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada is too reliant on the United States for defence as he announced he will boost military spending to meet NATO’s 2-per-cent military expenditure target this fiscal year – five years ahead of schedule.

But even as Mr. Carney detailed plans to meet the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s benchmark of spending 2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product on defence, he appeared to push back against a new campaign among NATO alliance members to raise that target to 3.5 per cent or 5 per cent.

“Our fundamental goal in all of this is to protect Canadians, not to satisfy NATO accountants,” he said.

NATO Chief's Call for Defence Increase

NATO chief calls for 400% increase in air and missile defences to counter Russia.

Mr. Carney said his government’s planned spending increase is necessary in an increasingly “dangerous and divided world” are unravelling the rules-based international order – a system on which Canada has relied for decades.

“The long-held view that Canada’s geographic location will protect us is becoming increasingly archaic,” he said in a speech to the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs Monday.

“Threats which felt far away and remote are now immediate and acute,” Mr. Carney said, citing “Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine” and threats to our security and sovereignty not only from Moscow but also from “an increasingly assertive China.”

Investment in Defence Infrastructure

Mr. Carney said Canada will invest in new submarines, aircraft, ships, armoured vehicles and artillery, as well as new drones and sensors to monitor activity in the Arctic and seafloor approaches to Canada.

He said Ottawa wants to cut its purchasing of U.S. military goods.

“We should no longer send three-quarters of our defence capital spending to America.”

He said the federal government will also give a “well-deserved pay raise” to Canadian Armed Forces personnel, which the prime minister predicted would also help recruit and retain personnel.

“They defend our coasts and waters. They patrol the Arctic, and support our allies on Russia’s borders. They do so under difficult conditions and, too often, with inadequate equipment,” he said. “They deserve better and they will have better.”

He said Canada’s military equipment and infrastructure have aged and are hindering Canada’s readiness.

“Only one of our four submarines is seaworthy,” he said. “Less than half of our maritime fleet and land vehicles are operational.”

“Broadly, we are too reliant on the United States.”

Shifts in Canada-U.S. Defence Relations

Mr. Carney said the U.S. became Canada’s closest ally and dominant trading partner as the United States became the global hegemon.

But, he said, U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist tariffs – which levy fees on countries wanting to sell goods to the United States – are changing things.

“Now the United States is beginning to monetize its hegemony: Charging for access to its markets and reducing its relative contributions to our collective security,” the Prime Minister said.

A new defence investment plan, to be rolled out over the course of Monday, will allow Canada to meet the 2-per-cent NATO target in the 2025-2026 fiscal year ending next March and exceed it in future years, Mr. Carney said. This represents a rapid shift in Canada’s commitment to defence – already a significant portion of the federal budget.

The spending increase, worth billions of dollars, comes ahead of the NATO leaders’ June 24-25 summit.

At The Hague gathering, member countries are expected to raise the Western alliance’s military spending target even higher – to 3.5 per cent of GDP, plus another amount equivalent to 1.5 per cent for security-related investments.

The Canadian government is expected to release the spending figures shortly.

For years, NATO member countries have agreed they should spend the equivalent of 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence.

But Canada has been a persistent laggard, spending an estimated 1.45 per cent in 2024, according to a recent NATO report.

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau had pledged to reach 2 per cent by 2032 and Mr. Carney’s Liberal Party during the recent federal election campaign had promised to accelerate this to 2030.

At the NATO leaders’ summit, member countries will discuss raising the Western alliance’s military spending target beyond 2 per cent of GDP to 3.5 per cent, plus another amount equivalent to 1.5 per cent for security-related investments.

Mr. Carney in his Monday speech suggested Canada is questioning a higher target. Canada’s defence increases will “ensure our security, and the security of all NATO citizens, is tangible progress, not a mathematical calculation.”

Source: The Globe and Mail