Freeland announces she’d meet NATO spending benchmark by 2027
Chrystia Freeland is unveiling what is perhaps the most ambitious plan among Liberal leadership contenders for Canada to hit the NATO benchmark defence spending target of two per cent of gross domestic product.
The former deputy prime minister said she’d have the country meet the goal by 2027 — five years ahead of the federal government’s stated plan.
The announcement comes one day after Liberal leadership candidate and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney pledged he would hit the target by 2030.
Karina Gould, the former Liberal House leader running for the party leadership, also pledged to hit the goal but has not laid out a timeline.
According to the campaign source, Freeland would accomplish the goal by increasing the size of the military, giving the Armed Forces new capabilities, building made-in-Canada supply chains and reforming procurement to get equipment delivered faster.
Canada is planning to spend just over $33 billion on defence in 2024-25, roughly 1.37 per cent of GDP.
Freeland’s last budget as finance minister projected military spending would rise by 30 per cent to just over $40 billion for the coming budget year — still a long way from the goal.
Liberal leadership candidate Karina Gould said if elected prime minister she would strive to meet NATO’s defence spending requirement years earlier — in part, by increasing the salaries of Canadian Forces members.
For Canada to hit the two per cent target, the federal government would have to invest $81.9 billion annually in defence, according to an analysis last fall by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
That calculation was made in response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pledge last summer to reach the NATO benchmark by 2032.
Part of the problem in meeting the target is that the Defence Department is not set up to spend that much money in a short period of time.
Freeland’s last budget promised to invest in new staff to deliver defence equipment projects — but funding for that plan does not kick in until 2025-26.
Defence Minister Bill Blair has signalled his goal would be to hit the NATO target by 2027. But while calling the timeline “absolutely achievable,” he has not explained how he would do that.