New Military Chief Aims to Reach Full Troop Strength Within 5 Years

Canada’s new military chief says she aims to fill all the vacancies in her organization within five years, as she prioritizes retention and changing recruitment methods to diversify the ranks.
“I’m committed to building on the work of my predecessors, that means focusing on the three Rs: recruitment, retention and readiness,” Gen. Jennie Carignan told the House of Commons national defence committee on Sept. 26.
Carignan, who succeeded Gen. Wayne Eyre as chief of the defence staff in July, was making her first appearance at committee to speak about her mandate and priorities.
The general was previously the chief professional conduct and culture, a role in which she worked on transforming the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) culture.
Carignan said her plan to boost recruiting involves improving processes without lowering standards, while also making a “big push” to recruit Canadians from all backgrounds. This includes “opening the door to more permanent residents,” she said.
Carignan told MPs a more diverse fighting force can improve its ability to respond to challenges.
“Readiness means having a stronger and more diverse foundation of personnel, with the required and relevant capabilities that meet the future of warfare,” she said. “Diversity makes us more operationally effective, and we know that what worked in the past will not [be] what will work in the future.”
Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant questioned Carignan about the existence of quotas in the CAF. Carignan said the current targets are that 25 percent of the forces be female, 11.8 percent visible minorities, and 3.5 percent indigenous people. She said the quotas do not apply to military trades.
Carignan told the committee the total current strength for the CAF sits at 63,622 regular force members and 29,176 reserve force members.
“Gen. Carignan and her team have done outstanding work, I believe, in making sure that we address the standards and how they are applied, our security background checks, the training capacity for our members,” he said.
National Defence and the CAF are currently working on various plans to increase the intake and training of new soldiers.
“I think we’ll hear very shortly about new initiatives to increase our capacity, to bring people on board the Canadian Armed Forces. We need them desperately,” said Blair.
Some obstacles to recruitment have already been lifted, including around the security screening process, Carignan said. New recruits continue to be vetted as they undergo basic military training, she added.