Only 1 in 13 CAF recruits make it to basic training: Auditor General report
The Canadian Armed Forces has been dealing with a recruitment problem, with a new report from the auditor general finding “tens of thousands of applicants did not complete the recruitment process."
The Canadian Armed Forces has been dealing with a recruitment problem for some time, with a new report from the auditor general finding that “tens of thousands of applicants did not complete the recruitment process.”
Auditor General Karen Hogan published a report on Tuesday, which found that only one in 13 CAF applicants “were on track to start basic training.”
“The CAF did not always know why those candidates dropped out. Without knowing why applicants leave, it is difficult to determine what needs to be done differently to increase the number of applicants who successfully complete the recruitment process and move into basic training,” wrote Hogan.
“The audit also found that while the CAF had been able to recruit more Indigenous and visible minority members, the representation of women remained well below its goals.”
Additionally, the organizational target of increasing women recruits to 25 per cent failed. While it only reached 18 per cent as of this year, it has increased from approximately 14 per cent in 2016.
The military had also committed to recruiting more permanent residents, which saw a marginal increase.
However, only 2 per cent of permanent resident applicants were recruited, compared to roughly 10 per cent of Canadian citizens.
The CAF received about 192,000 applications between 2022 and 2025, but more than half of those either stopped responding to recruiters or voluntarily withdrew their applications within 60 days.
The recruitment target for that period was to acquire 20,000 new recruits; however, the CAF ultimately only retained about 15,000.
Conservative Shadow Minister for National Defence James Bezan blamed the Liberal government for “the erosion of operational readiness, which led to a recruitment and retention death spiral at a time when the world has become a more dangerous place.”
Meanwhile, the AG investigation cited inefficiency and poor governance with the CAF’s recruitment and training systems.
“We found ineffective decision-making for recruitment and training,” reads the report. “Committees and groups managing recruitment and training activities lacked authority and clear accountability, leading to disjointed ownership of the recruiting process.”
The report noted that CAF staff were still required to manually input data during the recruitment process, which stalled application processing.
While there has been some improvement in recruitment compared with previous years, the CAF also faces major issues with retention, with many of those with higher training and instructors opting to leave.
“While recruitment improved over the audit period, the Canadian Armed Forces did not bring in enough new recruits to replace the people who left,” reads the report.
The AG recommends that action is taken to “ensure sufficient investments in instructors, training infrastructure, and equipment to increase the number of recruits who can be trained; create a more stable, long‑term training system; and better align the Strategic Intake Plan with long‑term personnel needs.”
According to the report, the CAF’s training system is failing to keep pace with the demand of applicants who do complete the military’s selection screening.
It noted that as of March 2024, “the CAF did not have enough equipment to carry out training operations.”
The CAF was facing a shortage of up to 14,000 qualified personnel in both the regular and reserve forces as of May.
“The Canadian Armed Forces continued to have challenges in recruiting and training enough highly skilled recruits to fully staff many occupations such as pilots and ammunition technicians,” said Hogan on Tuesday.
“This could affect the army, navy and air force’s ability to respond to threats, emergencies or conflicts and accomplish their missions.”
Imagine being a young person, fresh out of school, thinking about applying for the CAF for all the right reasons. Patriotism. Training. Education. Experience. Travel. Comradery. All the things that the Armed forces have to offer. Then, as you go through the process you start to get exposed to those people who actually spend time in the service. They are underpaid. Demoralized. Underused (if at all). Have poor equipment and training. Look and act sloppy. Absolutely must be bi-lingual (or uni-lingual in French as long as they can say 3 words in English) if they want to rise above the rank of Private. Why, under those circumstances would they possibly want to continue with the application process?
I asked AI why this happens. I have added comments and corrections:
". . . the challenges of the military lifestyle on family life, job dissatisfaction, and concerns about leadership and organizational culture."
NB - this speaks to the problem of the emasculation and feminization of the West. Reminds me of the comparison of the "inclusive" LGBTQ ads for the UK and Canadian militaries and China's hyper-masculine military ads. Why is the West allowing wokeness? Our enemies are not: it weakens a country.
"Excessive training delays: Recruits can face long delays, sometimes months, between different phases of training."
NB - in other words, they are distracted while waiting. But why are there delays? And why are they not more committed? First answer above: feminization of the West, which has eroded it.
The CAF "failed to process tens of thousands of qualified applicants in a timely manner, with many giving up while their application was in limbo."
NB - seriously?! Seems that the recruiters are not highly motivated themselves.
"Outdated equipment: Recruits and service members are often frustrated by the use of inadequate and outdated equipment. This issue is perceived as a low priority by leadership and lowers morale."
NB - I don't think equipment is the problem causing low morale; other armies have made do with less. Perhaps the low morale is due to the fact that the government is committing treason on a daily basis, colluding with Communist China, especially since the coup d'etat of Leftists in 2020, and people sense it. Trump is not the enemy; China is! Can you imagine serving the military of a country led by Trudeau and Carney? That has to be demoralizing.
"Members may be moved to locations with a high cost of living or inadequate housing, and the constant uprooting is difficult for families."
NB - I can see this as a real reason, since inflation and high rent are serious issues in Canada.
"Weakened morale: Some military critics believe that low morale is also influenced by a perceived disconnect between military culture and the values of younger generations."
NB - I call BS on this one: it's lack of patriotism and purpose not "values of younger generations." If anything, the military needs to be less woke and more masculine. Recruiting more women makes no sense.