'Fundamental' political shift required to overcome $40 billion NATO spending gap: analyst
CTV
Canada will need a profound shift in political priorities if the country is to ramp up spending to meet its international security obligations.
Canada will need a profound shift in political priorities if the country is to ramp up spending to meet its international security obligations.
New projections released by the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer reveal the massive spending gap Canada needs to overcome in order to meet its military commitment to its NATO allies.
According to estimates by the PBO, the federal government needs to double the amount it currently spends on the military under its two-per-cent-of-GDP NATO obligation.
After facing months of pressure from allies, the Prime Minister announced at July’s NATO Summit, that Canada would meet the target by 2032.
According to Department of National Defence figures, the federal government will spend $41 billion on the military for the 2024 fiscal year.
Defence spending accounts for approximately seven per cent of the total federal budget.
The PBO estimates that to reach the NATO target, spending on infrastructure, equipment and staff would have to ramp up over the next eight years to at least $81.9 billion a year by 2032.
