On Monday, June 9th, 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada will accelerate its defence spending to reach 2% of GDP by the end of the 2025–2026 fiscal year, moving the target forward by several years.

With Canada accelerating defence spending to 2% of GDP by 2025-26, how can the government and the CAF prepare for the far greater challenges and restructuring needed beyond just hitting the target?

Former Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and former Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS) VAdm Mark Norman (Ret’d) joined us to unpack Prime Minister Carney’s Monday defence spending announcement and the complex challenges ahead for Canada as it prepares to meet 2% and possibly 3.5% soon. 

Norman discusses the importance of disentangling from U.S. dependencies, the need to support Canada’s advanced but underappreciated defence industry capabilities and addressing government-created barriers for Canadian suppliers, Rearm Europe and the need to restructure Canada’s defence industrial base, how bureaucratic inefficiencies hinder capacity, and the need for Canada to carve out its own strategic path by redefining its alliances.

Reaching 2% of GDP is only meaningful if it comes with deep structural reform as well as a willingness to confront long-standing inefficiencies in a procurement process plagued by delay and complexity, a bureaucracy that struggles with agility and throughput, and a military personnel system facing a recruitment and retention crisis. Canada needs to prepare, institutionally and culturally, to take ownership of its own security in a rapidly changing world.

The CDA Institute is a non-partisan think tank that conducts research and education programming on defence and security.

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