Leaked Canadian military report shows many new recruits are quickly leaving
CBC
The Canadian military insists it's getting a handle on its recruiting crisis, but a new leaked internal report obtained by CBC News suggests many of those who come through the door quickly leave in frustration over the inability to get trained and into the job they want.
In addition, the effort to retain experienced soldiers, sailors and aircrew was dealt an important blow recently when a Department of National Defence office — set up to find ways to keep people — was defunded.
The struggle to recruit new members to both the regular and the reserve force has been a major preoccupation as the Forces face a shortage of up to 14,000 qualified personnel.
But the flip side of the equation — that has gotten less attention — is the effort to hold on to people, especially in critical technical trades.
According to the evaluation obtained by CBC News, the military's biggest retention problem appears to be among those who've just joined.
"The highest attrition rates within the [Canadian Armed Forces] CAF are observed among its lowest ranks and newest members," said the report, which pointed to the 2023-24 fiscal year where 9.4 per cent of newly enrolled members quit, as opposed to 4.3 per cent average across all of the Forces.
The reason new members are quitting: Training delays and difficulty adjusting to military life.
In some cases, recruits are waiting over 206 days for training — notably in specialized trades.
"There are insufficient trainers, equipment, training facilities and other supports to meet training targets effectively," said the report, written in April 2025.
"This leads to delays which significantly frustrate [new] members, who often face months of underemployment."
Defence researcher Charlotte Duval-Lantoine said the Defence Department seems to be approaching the crisis in a linear, one-step-at-a-time fashion — fix recruiting, then fix the training system.
"When you're sitting like a lame duck, waiting for your training, your morale can wane very quickly," said Duval-Lantoine, vice-president at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
"We really need to change the way that we talk about the current state of personnel. We cannot talk just in pure numbers. We really need to talk about it in terms of how many people are actively doing their job today."
During a media availability last winter to trumpet the military's plan to boost recruiting, the country's top military commander, Gen. Jeanie Carignan, acknowledged training was an issue. She said efforts were being made to improve basic training, the step ahead of trades training, which is at the heart of the retention issue.
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