Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to the Canadian Armed Forces 2025-26 enrollment for regular forces: (a) how many individuals were enrolled and actually commenced service, in total and broken down by location where they began their service and by Military Occupational Structure Identification position; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by month?

With regard to recruitment by the Canadian Armed Forces: (a) for each year from 2020 to present, what was the total number of persons who accepted offers of enrolment in the Canadian Armed Forces who were (i) only Canadian citizens at the time of offer, (ii) dual citizens at the time of offer, (iii) permanent residents at the time of offer, (iv) temporary residents at the time of offer, (v) refugee claimants at the time of offer, (vi) protected persons at the time of offer, (vii) held other immigration status; (b) for each category of persons identified in (a) that were not Canadian citizens at the time of offer, what citizenship or citizenships did those persons hold, broken down by country of citizenship; (c) for each category of persons listed in (a), what percentage completed Basic Military Qualification or Basic Military Qualification for Officers, as the case may be; and (d) for each citizenship, other than Canadian citizenship, identified in (b), what percentage, broken down by country of citizenship, completed Basic Military Qualification or Basic Military Qualification for Officers, as the case may be?

With regard to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence, between 2016 and 2025: (a) what are the details of all training provided to Canadian Forces Military Police officers, excluding language training, and including, for each instance, the (i) name of the training, (ii) description of the training, (iii) type of equivalent training done in civilian police agencies, if known to date, (iv) location, (v) cost, (vi) results or assessment of the training's conclusion, (vii) individual who conducted the training; and (b) what are the details of all contracts signed since January 1, 2016, in relation to training, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) amount, (iv) description of the goods or services provided?

With regard to social media posts published by the Canadian Armed Forces using the hashtags #NoContextCaption and #SundayFunDay: (a) what are the details of each contract signed related to the creation, production or dissemination of these posts, including the (i) name of the vendor or company, (ii) contract value, (iii) start and end dates, (iv) scope of the work, (v) manner in which the contract was awarded (competitive or sole-sourced); (b) what are the total costs incurred by the government in relation to these social media posts, including internal and external costs; and (c) what approvals were required for these posts, including which officials or positions reviewed and authorized the content prior to publication?

With regard to the Canadian Armed Forces: (a) which occupations (Military Occupational Structure Identification) are projected to reach authorized staffing levels, otherwise known as Preferred Manning Level, in (i) four years, (ii) 10 years, (iii) 25 years, (iv) an undetermined number of years; (b) how many current training staff at Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School are externally sourced temporary staff; (c) how many trainer positions are there, broken down by occupation (Military Occupational Structure Identification); (d) how many trainer positions are unfilled, broken down by occupation (Military Occupational Structure Identification); (e) how many trainers are reservists on full or short term Class B service; (f) which occupations (Military Occupational Structure Identification) do not mandate the Canadian Forces Aptitude Test; (g) between January 1, 2025, and April 22, 2026, how many total Canadian Armed Forces members have left the Canadian Armed Forces, broken down by rank and occupation (Military Occupational Structure Identification); and (h) what currently are the five most distressed occupations (Military Occupational Structure Identifications) in the Canadian Armed Forces?

With regard to the Canadian Armed Forces: (a) since 1914, how many Regular Force members and Reserve Force members have lost their lives in non-combat roles during peacetime in Canada; and (b) since 2013, how many Regular Force members and Reserve Force members have died by suicide?

With regard to the mobile application MyCAF: (a) what are all the costs incurred by the government to date for the development, deployment, operation and maintenance of the application, in total and broken down by type of expense; (b) what are the details of each contract signed related to the application, including the (i) amount or value, (ii) vendor, (iii) date, (iv) description of the goods or services provided, (v) manner in which the contract was awarded (sole-sourced or competitive bid); (c) how many times has the application been downloaded and what is the number of unique users each month; (d) what is the uptake of users compared to the total number of eligible Canadian Armed Forces members; and (e) when was the application officially launched?

With regard to the Canadian Armed Forces working with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to recruit foreign trained non-Canadians for service in the Canadian military: (a) what is the government's policy regarding which Canadian Armed Forces positions are offered to Canadian citizens versus those who may be offered to foreign trained military personnel; (b) will the foreign trained military members be present in Canada as temporary foreign workers or through a different type of visa, and, if so, what type; (c) will the foreign trained military members be required to return to their home country once their service in the Canadian Armed Forces has ended; (d) which countries will the Canadian Armed Forces be recruiting personnel from; (e) will personnel from certain North Atlantic Treaty Organization or other allied countries receive preferential access to the program, and, if so, which countries; (f) will personnel from countries identified as posing a national security threat, such as China, North Korea, or Russia, or certain other non-allied countries, be prohibited from participating in this program, and, if so, which countries; (g) will there be a maximum number or percentage of foreign trained personnel either participating in, or admitted to, the Canadian Armed Forces each year, and, if so, what is the maximum; (h) will foreign personnel train or work with (i) general Canadian Armed Forces personnel, (ii) cohorts of fellow foreign trained personnel from around the world, (iii) cohorts of fellow foreign trained personnel from the same foreign country or region; and (i) what measures are in place to ensure that the Canadian Armed Forces make a sincere effort to hire Canadians for each such military position prior to offering the position to non-Canadians?

With regard to the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces: (a) what is the current wait time between the date of successful completion of the basic military qualification for non‑commissioned members and the start date for their basic occupational qualification; (b) how many personnel are currently awaiting their basic occupational qualification who have completed their basic military qualification; (c) how many days in calendar years (i) 2025, (ii) 2026 to date, was the average wait from the first day of service to completion of Developmental Period 1; (d) how many days on average in calendar years (i) 2025, (ii) 2026 to date, were there between the offer of initial engagement or employment and the first day of service or basic training; and (e) how many days on average were there in calendar years (i) 2025, (ii) 2026 to date, between when someone's first application to enroll in the Canadian Armed Forces was received and a reply contact from a human in the Canadian Armed Forces was sent?

With regard to the Canadian Armed Forces: (a) between January 1, 2025, and April 22, 2026, what is the total Trained Effective Strength in the Canadian Armed Forces, broken down by month; (b) how many Canadian Armed Forces members are currently on the Basic Training List; (c) between April 1, 2025, and April 22, 2026, how many Canadian Armed Forces members achieved Trained Effective Strength (also known as Operational Functioning Point); (d) which occupations are at under 80% staffing capacity, otherwise known as Preferred Manning Level; (e) between January 1, 2025, and April 22, 2026, broken down by quarter and sorted by each occupation (Military Occupational Structure Identification), what are the wait times for people on Personnel Awaiting Training; (f) how many authorized clothing items are missing to fully clothe and equip all Canadian Armed Forces recruits at Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School St. Jean; (g) between December 5, 2022, and April 23, 2026, broken down by month, what is the number of recruits and Canadian Armed Forces members that are permanent residents who failed to pass (i) the Basic Military Qualification course, (ii) Developmental Period 1 occupational training; and (h) what countries (by name) are considered "high risk" for the purposes of background checks and security clearances for people joining the Canadian Armed Forces?

With regard to the Canadian Armed Forces: (a) since December 5, 2022, how many permanent residents have been enrolled by the Canadian Armed Forces, broken down by (i) Regular Force, (ii) Reserve Force, and further broken down by year and by quarter; (b) what Military Occupational Structure Identifications are non-citizens permitted to serve in; (c) what is the number of permanent residents currently serving, broken down by (i) Military Occupational Structure Identification, (ii) rank; (d) of the permanent residents enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces since December 5, 2022, how many have left the Canadian Armed Forces, broken down by (i) Regular Force, (ii) Reserve Force; (e) since December 5, 2022, how many permanent residents enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces have become Canadian citizens; and (f) how many permanent residents enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces since December 5, 2022, are citizens of countries other than North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries?

With regard to national defence for the fiscal year 2025-26 and the Prime Minister's announcement on June 9, 2025, that stated that "This plan includes a cash increase of over $9 billion ($8.3 billion on an accrual basis) in defence investment this fiscal year (2025-26), bringing Canada's defence spending to 2% of gross domestic product": (a) how much total government spending is required to be defined as defence spending in order to reach 2% of gross domestic product; (b) what is the total planned budget for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces; (c) what are the expenditures from other eligible government departments included in Canada's defence spending calculations, broken down by (i) department, (ii) type or category of expenditure, (iii) dollar value; (d) for the "new aircraft, armed vehicles, and ammunition" referenced in the Prime Minister's statement, what are the details, including the (i) type of new aircraft that will be acquired, (ii) budget for these aircrafts, (iii) type of new armed vehicles that will be acquired, (iv) budget for these armed vehicles; (e) is the budget for the new aircrafts and armed vehicles listed in (d) accounted for in the "cash increase of $9 billion", as referenced in the Department of National Defence backgrounder; (f) how much of the "cash increase of $9 billion" is accounted for in the Supplementary Estimates (A) tabled on June 9, 2025; and (g) what is the gross domestic product number used to calculate the Prime Minister's announcement regarding 2% defence spending?

With regard to hearing protection for service women and men in the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police: (a) how much has the government spent annually over each of the past five years to acquire hearing protection devices, and what were the specific standard devices provided to service personnel; (b) what analysis has the government done to confirm that the current devices are the most effective on the market; (c) what actions is the government taking to ensure that current service personnel have the most effective hearing protection devices available; (d) what steps are being taken to ensure new recruits are provided the best hearing devices available; (e) how much has (i) the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, (ii) Veterans Affairs Canada, (iii) the government as a whole, paid out in each of the last five years to treat hearing loss; (f) what steps have been taken to hold providers of defective hearing devices accountable for hearing loss in members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Armed Forces; and (g) how much has the government paid in lead settlements in each of the last five years related to hearing damage resulting from work as Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers and Canadian Armed Forces members?

With regard to the Iranian missile strike which hit the Ali Al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait while Canadian Armed Forces members were stationed there on or around March 1, 2026: (a) on what date did the Minister of National Defence become aware of the missile strike; (b) on what date did the government inform Canadians that this strike had occurred; (c) what was the reason for the delay in informing Canadians about the strike; (d) what is the estimated property damage caused by the strike, and what is the projected cost to repair the damage; (e) were any (i) Canadian Armed Forces members, (ii) other individuals, who were stationed at the base injured during the strike, and, if so, what was the severity of the injuries; and (f) prior to the missile strike being reported in the Le Devoir newspaper, was the government planning on making information about the strike public, and, if so, what were the original plans, including the timeline, of when and how it was going to let Canadians know what happened?

With regard to employees and officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canada Border Services Agency or the Canadian Armed Forces being backdrops in announcements made by the Prime Minister or other ministers, since March 24, 2025: excluding those providing event security or those on active security detail, what are the details of each event with such individuals in attendance as a backdrop including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) location, (iii) number of employees or officers from each organization, (iv) details of which ministers made the announcement, (v) nature of announcement, (vi) costs incurred by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canada Border Services Agency or the Canadian Armed Forces related to their attendance at the event, in total and broken down by type of expenses (transportation, overtime, etc.)?