Prime Minister Mark Carney made a shocking admission Friday afternoon, stating Canada’s “military infrastructure and equipment have aged, hindering our military preparedness.” 

“With investments of over $9 billion this year, Canada will reach our 2% of GDP NATO pledge, half a decade before schedule,” Carney told reporters in Trenton, vowing to “further accelerate our investments in years to come.”

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Recent polling indicates a surge in Canadian support for increased defence spending, with 68% favouring 2% of GDP or more, and 17% wanting to exceed that. This marks a near doubling of those supporting higher spending since March 2024.

Canada was among the last NATO members to meet its 2% spending commitment, first set in 2014.

When asked how the government should pay for the increase, 62% said that it should be covered by cuts to other federal programs.

Carney concedes that aging military equipment is hindering the Canadian Armed Forces' preparedness.

The PM pledges to boost spending and "increase our security presence around the world". pic.twitter.com/NEFc21yRjB

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) August 8, 2025

Cognizant of Canada’s deteriorating Armed Forces, Prime Minister Carney stated, “We're modernizing our military equipment and technology.”

“We're building up our own defence and security industries and diversifying those international defence partnerships,” he added, referring to ReArm Europe, a plan to reduce future reliance on U.S. military procurement and strengthen ties with Europe.

60% of Canadians favour closer ties with Europe over the U.S., while only 23% prefer aligning with the U.S., with the remainder undecided.

“We will increase our security presence around the world, including to protect NATO's eastern flank,” Carney said, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.

A secret DND presentation, obtained by CBC News, revealed only 58% of the Armed Forces could mobilize if NATO allies declared war.

Nearly half (45%) of Canada's military equipment for Europe's defence, including potential Russia-Ukraine war involvement, is "unavailable and unserviceable."

As part of NATO's new 5% spending commitment, PM Carney says Canada is working to spend 1.5% of GDP on defence and security infrastructure.

This includes ports, airports, telecommunications, emergency systems and developing/exporting critical minerals as examples, he says. pic.twitter.com/3FdSCoWWmi

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) June 25, 2025

On June 21, NATO members also agreed to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, with 3.5% going directly to the military, and 1.5% for infrastructure.

Carney detailed the numbers at the time. His government added $9.3 billion to this year's Department of National Defence budget to meet the initial 2% target, raising annual military spending to $62 billion.

The Liberal government would require an extra $50 billion for defence to hit the 3.5% GDP military spending target. 

“To put that into context, our total spending on defence and security will quadruple by the end of this decade relative to 2023/2024 levels,” Carney said Friday.

Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and others committed to the 5% goal, while Belgium, Spain, and Slovakia were skeptical.