Decades of underinvestment have left the Canadian Armed Forces trailing nearly all of its NATO allies in military equipment procurement, according to a new data project from the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
The assessment arrives as Canadian forces prepare for Operation NANOOK-NUNAKPUT in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, highlighting a northern defense posture relying on Cold War-era infrastructure.
Canada is projected to direct 25 per cent of its 2026 defense budget toward major equipment, clearing NATO's 20 per cent guideline but ranking 28th among 31 member states. Poland leads allies at 55.9 per cent, while Lithuania and Hungary commit 46 and 45 per cent respectively. A recent Canadian Chamber of Commerce report notes that the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy average 31.2 per cent of their budgets on equipment, operating alongside significantly larger active personnel counts such as France's 202,000 troops compared to Canada's 71,000.
Retired Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, former commander of the Royal Canadian Navy and vice-chief of the defense staff, described the findings to the National Post as somewhat troubling but not surprising.
Years of systemic neglect leave the armed forces grappling with aging frigates, legacy fighter jets, and Arctic surveillance radars designed during the Soviet era.