The military cadet program is wrestling with its own systemic sexual misconduct problem

A lawyer and veteran representing former cadets in a class action lawsuit says the Canadian cadet program, run by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), is grappling with the same sexual misconduct issues as the military.

Michael Blois, a partner at the Toronto personal injury law firm Diamond & Diamond, said plaintiffs have described a culture in the cadet program that includes grooming, rampant sexual harassment and innuendo, and a lack of follow-up within units and summer camps when cadets have raised sexual misconduct claims with superiors.

Blois and his colleagues filed a $300 million class action lawsuit last year. In the statement of claim, they said the federal government has failed when it comes to "systemic sexual assault, sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination" in the cadet program. None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Cadets, who are aged 12 to 18, are not CAF members but CAF members supervise the program. The most senior cadet instructors are commissioned officers in the military's reserve force, and CAF members often participate in cadet training, especially at summer camps. The Canadian Cadet Organizations (CCO) is the body formally responsible for the cadet program.

"If you have a sexualized, discriminatory environment within the Canadian Forces, without a doubt it's going to leak into the cadet organization," Blois told CBC News.

"There is overlap between some members of the Canadian Forces and cadet units, either as volunteers or within the structure of the training ... especially at the summertime in the different camps."

The most recent statistics DND would provide are from a 2020 military police report, which shows there were 257 "founded" incidents of sexual abuse in cadet units and camps over a four-year period from 2016 to 2019. "Founded" means law enforcement had enough evidence to substantiate that the incidents occurred.

Of the 257 incidents, military police classified 215 as sexual assaults, 19 as sexual offences against children and 23 as other sexual-related offences.

The cadet program's purpose is to "help develop skills that will help youth transition into adulthood," the Department of National Defence (DND) says on its website

CAF said in response to CBC inquiries that the cadet program consists of 46,000 youth and over 8,800 military and civilian members. Approximately 16,000 cadets attended summer cadet training centres in 2019, but in-person summer training was cancelled due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Around 3,000 cadets attended summer training centres in 2022, CAF said.

The cadet program is not meant to streamline cadets into the military. But Blois, a Canadian Army veteran who spent 11 years in the CAF, said sexual misconduct issues in the cadet program may deter cadets from pursuing a military career.

"If they are a victim, that's probably steered them away, and that's a real shame," he said.

The military is struggling to meet its recruiting targets. Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre estimates the CAF is short 10,000 regular force members.

Several high-ranking officers in the military are facing allegations of sexual misconduct, and a report last year from former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour called for changes in the CAF's culture and practices to address the issue.