PM details defence spending plans during Biden's visit — but the timelines are largely the same

Canada plans to invest $7.3 billion to upgrade its fighter jet bases and Far North landing strips to accommodate the air force's new F-35s, the Prime Minister's Office announced Friday at the conclusion of a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the announcement represents the accelerated investment in continental defence that Washington had been calling for before the two leaders met in Ottawa this week.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced that the first new Over the Horizon Radar (OTHR) station on Canadian soil — intended to keep track of low-flying threats such as cruise missiles — will be located in southern Ontario. It eventually will connect with another, future station in Canada's Far North and the U.S. radar network that scans the skies for targets at extreme ranges.

Last spring, Canada announced it was going to invest $38.6 billion over 20 years to modernize the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The newly revealed investment comes from that pot of money.

U.S. officials have been privately and publicly pressuring Canada to move more swiftly in light of increasingly belligerent relations with Russia and China.

"NORAD is the only binational military command in the world, yet another way in which our partnership is exceptional," Biden said in an address to the House of Commons on Friday.

"It is an incredible symbol of the faith we have in one another and the trust we place in each other's capabilities."

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Biden went on to praise the modernization of NORAD before saying that he's "looking forward to continuing to work in close partnership with Canada as we deliver on these needs so that our people can continue to rest soundly, knowing NORAD is on the watch."

Before the president's visit, which included a meeting with Trudeau's cabinet, U.S. officials had been signalling they wanted to see Canadian money earmarked for continental defence spent more quickly.

"There is a fair amount of infrastructure improvement that needs to be done in the Arctic runways, hangars, et cetera," said a senior U.S. official, who spoke on background prior to Biden's arrival.

"And our ongoing discussions with Canada, relating to the timing of their investments, is to try and make sure that the infrastructure investments that are a part of Canada's NORAD modernization announcement will be completed in a timeframe that is consistent with when the F-35 planes are going to be delivered."

Defence Minister Anita Anand announced in January that the federal government had signed off on the final contract to buy F-35 jet fighters to replace the air force's aging CF-18s.

The final agreement for 88 warplanes — involving the Canadian and U.S. governments and the jet's manufacturer — won't see its first delivery until 2026 and the first F-35 squadrons will not be operational until 2029, senior defence officials said at the time.