Amid continuing criticism from US President Donald Trump over military spending, Defense Minister Bill Blair says a military investment benchmark of two per cent of gross domestic product is “absolutely achievable” for Canada within two years.
This accelerated timeline, which hits the 2027 target, is about five years earlier than what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in July.
“My goal is to get this done as quickly as possible, and I'm increasingly confident that we will be able to,” Blair said in response to CBC News' questions.
Canada is one of eight NATO allies out of 30 estimated to be off target and has faced sustained criticism from allies. According to a NATO report last year, Canada is estimated to have spent about 1.37 percent of GDP in 2024.
Defense Secretary Bill Blair says it could take “as much as two years to reach this level of capability”. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last summer that he expected Canada to meet the alliance's defense spending target by 2032.
Blair's comments come a day after Trump used the international stage to suggest for the first time that Canada should become a US state.
During a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, Trump said he was pushing all NATO countries, including Canada, to increase military spending to five percent of GDP. The United States spends 3.4 percent of its GDP on defense spending, and no other ally comes anywhere close to that goal.
While threatening tariffs, Trump also said it would be “much better national security” for the two countries to connect.
“Don't forget: We are fundamentally protecting Canada,” Trump said at a Jan. 7 news conference in Florida.
Blair said how quickly Canada could hit that target depends on when the government has the funds, and the attempt to speed up defense spending is not entirely because of Trump's comments.
“I think it's wrong to attribute it only in response to a specific person,” Blair said. “We have been working hard to expedite spending to get the work done as quickly as possible. But it is in Canada's national interest, it is not only in response to threats made by what we have always considered our closest ally and friend.”
Trudeau told NATO leaders last summer that the government was on track to meet NATO's 2032 spending target. That official deadline has not changed, Blair's office said, but the minister's focus is on trying to speed up that timeline by getting individual projects done one by one more quickly.
His office said those projects include contracts for submarines, munitions and support for members such as housing and child care. The Canadian Armed Forces, which is facing a personnel crisis, will also need personnel to handle everything, Blair's office said.
“I think it's absolutely possible that we can get to that level of spending. This needs to be done,” Blair said.
Analyst Says 2027 'Much More Reasonable'
Military chief of the defense staff, Gen. Jennie Carignan, said the force has been working over the past several months to get closer to NATO's spending benchmark.
“Because the longer we wait, the less platforms or equipment we can get for the same amount of money,” Carignan said Rosemary Barton Live In an interview broadcast on Sunday. “So we created a way to get investments earlier.”
So far, the focus has been on investments in “readiness, professional behavior and people,” she said.
Carignan said the military now has the money it needs to “start the process” of getting closer to the alliance's spending target, but added that it is always under review.
Dave Perry, president and CEO of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, says the reaction internationally has been that the Canada 2032 timeline is “too long,” especially while NATO is talking about increasing its spending benchmark.
He said the 2027 timeline is “much more reasonable.”
“But for Minister Blair to do that, he's going to need money and a significant and significant change in the way the Government of Canada operates in terms of approving the injection of resources that he's talking about,” he said.
Perry said the government will need to overhaul the mechanics of how it works to move away from rules, cut red tape and change thinking to quickly invest more money in the force.
Trudeau defended the government's record Thursday, saying defense spending has almost tripled since he took office in 2015. He said the government will continue to work with NATO members to “make sure we're doing everything we can to keep Canada safe.” “.