Long hair, signing bonuses and 'try before you buy': How Canada's military is responding to a staffing crisis
CBC
Anton Parker followed in his grandfather's footsteps with a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
With the longest hair of his life, complemented with a handlebar mustache and mutton chop sideburns, his grandfather might not even recognize him as a military sailor.
"The military should strive for discipline and uniformity," Parker said while on board HMCS Vancouver, a frigate deployed in the Indo-Pacific region. "But there's a need in the modern world for people to express individuality. The navy is trying to strike that balance."
On the same ship, some sailors have pink hair, others multiple earrings in each ear.
Even face tattoos are OK.
The decision is one way of "addressing the tension created by accelerated generational change," Gen. Wayne Eyre, the chief of defence staff, said in a video announcing the change. "Uniformity does not equal discipline … any more than the colour or length of your hair defines your commitment."
The relaxation of dress standards a year ago across the Canadian Armed Forces may surprise veterans who lived through far stricter times, but it is part of a larger effort to make the Forces more attractive to new recruits and to retain experienced members like Sailor 1st Class Parker, who has served with the Royal Canadian Navy for seven years.
The navy is "understaffed right now, we're heavily understaffed," Parker said. "There are a lot of vacant positions."
At least 10,000 positions across the CAF are empty, representing one in 10 roles. The chief of defence staff has warned it will get worse before it gets better.
"I am very, very worried about our numbers," Eyre told a House of Commons committee in April.
"Our readiness is going down within the Canadian Armed Forces," he said. "The military we have today is not the one we need for the future."
The CAF has added 10,731 new members since 2020, but those gains have been offset by retirements and departures from the ranks — which have left the Armed Forces in a continued deficit.
In spite of signing bonuses of up to $20,000 based on a candidate's qualifications, the Forces have been unable to replace members who leave.
It comes at a moment of high operational tempo. In other words, the military is very busy.