Question Period Note: Recruitment and retention

What is this Government doing to make the Canadian Armed Forces a desirable career choice for Canadians?

• We are committed to evolving our culture, growing the Canadian Armed Forces, and ensuring that our Forces reflect Canada’s diversity.

• To enhance accessibility in joining the Canadian Armed Forces we are improving the recruiting experience by digitizing, streamlining and redesigning the recruitment process to ensure each application is processed efficiently.

• To attract all eligible Canadians, we are prioritizing the recognition of past experience during the recruiting process, which will accelerate military career paths.

• Permanent residents are also now welcome to apply to the Canadian Armed Forces as they represent an important, skilled, and diverse workforce in Canada.

• The Canadian Armed Forces is working with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to share information on the recruitment of permanent residents in order to increase the applicant pool.

• Additionally, we are improving our talent management efforts to better place members in occupations that match their interests, skills, abilities, and experience.

• Further, to increase our outreach and education to eligible Canadians, including to under-represented groups, we are conducting focused engagements with communities across Canada.

• For instance, our recruiters recently held a targeted event in Valcartier for community leaders and school guidance counsellors to showcase opportunities for women in the forces.

• Canadian Armed Forces athletes also recently participated in an event organized by School Sports Canada to promote the benefits of a career in the forces – including travel and cutting-edge fitness training opportunities – with 400 young athletes.

• We are also enhancing Canadian Armed Forces branding and conducting targeted advertising to convey to Canadians the value of a military career.

• In October 2022, National Defence launched a new retention strategy to better support our members by responding to their emerging and changing needs.

• This strategy will help us retain members through a range of initiatives, including by enhancing support for families and addressing issues that affect members’ health and wellbeing.

• In addition, we are reviewing the training programs at every level, including basic training, to ensure we remain prepared to excel in operations at home and abroad while building a more inclusive team.

• Through these efforts, the Canadian Armed Forces will become a first-rate career choice that will attract talented Canadians for years to come.

Quick Facts

*Ongoing Recruitment Initiatives: *

• Targeted engagement with communities across Canada to increase representation of under-represented groups.

• Programs to increase Indigenous representation.

• Prioritizing women applicants within all CAF enrolment programs, including at military colleges.

  • December 5, 2022 – The Minister Announced that permanent residents are welcome to apply to enrol in the Canadian Armed Forces.

  • In 2022-2023 (as of June 30, 2022) 1,382 individuals joined the Regular Force and Primary Reserve, 17.0% of whom were women.

• 2021-2022 intake: 8,069 individuals.

• 2020-2021 intake: 4,262 individuals.

  • Indigenous Representation: 2.8% (as of June 30, 2022); goal is 3.5% by 2026.

  • Canadian Armed Forces Employment Equity Plan 2021-2026 recognizes the LGBTQ2+ community as a designated group.

  • New Promotion and Selection Process: National General Officer and Flag Officer Selection Boards now feature procedural improvements including mandating that one voting member be from an Employment Equity group.

Background

House Standing Committee on National Defence: Recruitment and Retention Study

• On April 4, 2022, the House Standing Committee on National Defence launched its study on recruitment and retention in the Canadian Armed Forces. The Committee tabled its report on June 22, 2022.

• In the report, the Committee lists 16 recommendations for National Defence, highlighting five broad themes in the areas of: 1) Culture change, 2) Diversity and inclusion, 3) Improving the recruitment process, 4) Supports to military families and easing the burden of service, and 5) DND/CAF Ombudsman independence.

• On October 20, 2022, National Defence tabled the Government Response to the Committee’s Modernizing Recruitment and Retention in the Canadian Armed Forces report.

*Current Programs and Initiatives *

• National Defence implements a broad range of proactive and targeted recruitment programs aimed at increasing the representation of women, visible minorities, and Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian Armed Forces. These programs and initiatives include:

  • Operation GENERATION, an ongoing mission to meet employment equity goals, reduce enrolment times, and modernize recruiting activities;

  • The Canadian Armed Forces Indigenous Entry Program, a three-week hands-on experience program for Indigenous Peoples who are considering a career in the CAF;

  • The Aboriginal Leadership Opportunity Year provides Indigenous participants with exposure to the CAF military and academic disciplines. Enrolled and paid as Officer Cadets, participants experience university-level educational and leadership opportunities at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario;

    • It is the only Indigenous program focused on developing potential officers. Participants are enrolled into the Regular Force as Officer Cadets;

  • Multiple six-week paid Primary Reserve Indigenous Summer Programs, which integrate cultural teachings with military training.

    • Participants who successfully complete a program are granted the CAF Army Reserve Basic Military Qualification.

• To improve retention, work is also underway to improve the CAF’s employment model and provide flexible career options, such as:

  • reducing the burden of relocation through the Seamless Canada Initiative;

  • component transfers (Regular Force to Primary Reserve and Primary Reserve to Regular Force);

  • flexible or remote work policies; and

  • modernizing the nature of full-time and part-time employment within the CAF.

• Permanent Residents: Currently, the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group accepts trained applicants from foreign militaries. These applicants include pilots, logistics officers, infantry officers and other skilled professionals, who may become enrolled in the CAF if they have permanent resident status in Canada.

• The intent is to broaden the pool to enable other permanent residents, who meet the same criteria as Canadian citizens to enroll in the CAF as new recruits or officer cadets.

• The Chief of the Defence Staff signed a document on October 18, 2022, that reinforces existing policy and designates authority to the Commander Military Personnel Command and the Commander Canadian Forces Recruiting Group for the enrolment of a citizen of another country who has permanent resident status under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

• In accordance with existing policy, Defence Administrative Order and Directive 5002-1 Enrolment, an applicant for enrolment in the CAF must be a Canadian citizen or a citizen of another country who has permanent resident status under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and:

  • who is committed to becoming a Canadian citizen upon eligibility;

  • who satisfies a special need; and

  • whose enrolment, in the opinion of the Commander Canadian Forces Recruiting Group, will not be detrimental to the national interest.

*Other Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives *

• Other diversity and inclusion initiatives include, but are not limited to:

  • Dress Instructions Update – this has eliminated binary uniform and appearance choices, allowing CAF personnel the freedom to choose the uniform that makes them most comfortable.

  • Inclusive Ranks in French – French versions of all designations of ranks now have official Gender Inclusive equivalents.

  • Women’s Health Framework – this aims to enhance women’s health care and increase knowledge of women’s health issues and topics within the military.

  • Post-natal Care – the CAF has released its first Nursing and Pumping Policy, which requires all Commanding Officers to establish a lactation plan to support their members.

  • Compassionate Leave Policy – this allows members to request new types of leave to account for pregnancy loss, family violence, and parents of young victims of crime, for example.

  • Training Needs Assessment – the most recent Training Needs Assessment addressing professional conduct was conducted in 2020. Results are being reviewed to develop an implementation plan.

  • Women in Force Program – this program helps raise awareness about life in the CAF and gives women the opportunity to speak with current CAF members while experiencing different facets of a military lifestyle. Plans to run the program were put on hold due to the pandemic. The intent is to reinvigorate the program prior to the end of the 2022/23 fiscal year.

Canadian Armed Forces Retention Strategy

• On October 6, 2022, National Defence released the Canadian Armed Forces Retention Strategy, which is composed of three elements:

  • Better understanding the drivers that impact/hinder retention rates;

  • Outlining key considerations from leadership responsibilities, to flexible policies to effective communication; and

  • Identifying concrete levels of effort to guide a deliberate approach to this problem-set, including strengthening governance.

CDS/DM Directive on Canadian Armed Forces Reconstitution

• On October 6, 2022, the Chief of the Defence Staff and Deputy Minister also issued a Directive for CAF Reconstitution. This directive will set in motion a significant body of work that will provide direction on the course corrections that are required to overcome deficiencies that are hampering the composition and readiness of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).

Responsible Principals: Military Personnel Command, Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy) – Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat, Chief Professional Conduct and Culture