(Quebec) Jim Soto stops in front of a table full of assault rifles. His gaze stops on one of the weapons, so polished that it glows under the lighting. “It’s a C7,” said the soldier. Have you ever handled a gun like that, do you want to hold it? »
The scene takes place at Place Fleur de Lys, a shopping center in Quebec City. It was here, in the empty premises of the former Quebec Gaming Hall, that the Canadian Armed Forces held their “Military for a Day” activity on September 16.
This new type of recruitment operation was set up less than a year ago to offer an immersive style. Here, you can handle rifles – unarmed, of course –, taste rations or attempt the physical test of the Forces.
Under a stand, two friendly soldiers in uniform even show you how to make a “standard” bed. ” Would you like to try ? », asks one of them to a teenager accompanied by his parents. The teenager hesitates for a moment, then politely declines. The parents look at each other and smile.
Jim Soto isn’t afraid to make a bed. He is here to change his life. The 44-year-old father comes from Colombia. He arrived in Quebec a few years ago with training as a food technician. Mr. Soto expected to find a job quickly. But his studies were not recognized. “It’s very frustrating,” he said.
Not so long ago, Jim Soto would have had no chance of joining the Canadian army. He is not yet a citizen. But all that changed in December 2022, when Ottawa announced that permanent residents could now apply. This was yet another measure put in place to curb the recruitment crisis in the Forces.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESS
Of Colombian origin, Jim Soto does not have Canadian citizenship. He could nevertheless join the army as a permanent resident.
When I saw this, I said to myself that the army could be an option for me and to improve the life of my family. That’s why I’m here today.
Jim Soto
The opening of the Forces to permanent residents had a huge impact. As of June 30, 12,899 of them had submitted their applications.
But this little revolution is slow to bear fruit. Only 16 of them were enlisted.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESS
Recruitment centers are overflowing with young people who want to enlist for combat professions. But technical positions remain posted.
A certain image to break
Currently, there is a shortage of 8,100 regular military personnel in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The FAC has an authorized strength of 71,150 members. They only employ 63,050. If we add the reserve, nearly 16,000 soldiers are wanted.
But the Armed Forces do not have a problem attracting candidates, they have difficulty attracting competent candidates, nuance Christian Leuprecht, professor at the Royal Military College of Canada.
“There are 50,000 or 60,000 people who present themselves at the recruitment offices each year and 5,000 are hired,” illustrates this specialist in the issue of recruitment in the FAC.
The issue is above all the recruitment of specialized trades, engineers, nurses, pharmacists, pilots, IT workers… The problem is the recruitment of qualified, desirable people.
Christian Leuprecht, professor at the Royal Military College of Canada
Recruitment centers are overflowing with young people who want to enlist for combat professions. But technical positions remain posted.
“I think it’s because it’s little known. Let’s say that through culture, films for example, everyone knows infantrymen or armored vehicles, says Major Michel Vandal, who is in charge of the Quebec Recruitment Center. But we have a lot of technical professions. We have refrigeration technicians in the Forces, who knows that? »
The impact of this lack of personnel is hard to measure on the capacity of the FAC. One thing is certain, the shortage increases the pressure on existing staff.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESS
Soldiers in uniform chat with curious onlookers as part of a recruitment activity at Place Fleur de Lys, in Quebec.
To recruit these specialized candidates, the FAC does not hesitate to offer hiring bonuses. These can reach $20,000 and even more. Salaries are also competitive, ranging from nearly $60,000 a year for soldiers to six-figure salaries for officers.
But certain realities of military jobs discourage qualified candidates.
“Relocation” of military personnel to bases across the country could work in the 1950s in the case of a soldier whose wife is a homemaker. Is it still acceptable for military personnel whose spouse has a civilian job, sometimes even better paid?*
“An ambitious young couple who wants to join the army will find it difficult to uproot their entire life to go live in a small town in another province, in a rural community that they have never seen,” Andrea said recently. Lane, a scientist at Defense Research and Development Canada, to members of the Standing Committee on Defense in Ottawa.
On this September Saturday at Place Fleur de Lys, this is exactly what is stopping Jim Soto from applying immediately. However, the man was seduced by what he saw, by his discussions with the soldiers.
“The problem is that I have a family, a wife and two children. If I were alone, I would go. But my wife is afraid we will have to move far away in Canada. She speaks French, she doesn’t speak English, neither do the children. You have to think about the children… It’s not easy. »
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESS
Corporal Raymond demonstrates a service weapon to a visitor to the “Military for a Day” event at Place Fleur de Lys, in Quebec.
Beyond the white man
The defense has another very particular problem: its historical recruiting pool – young heterosexual white men – is diminishing.
The most recent figures show that 11.9% of CAF members are visible minorities. However, they represent 26.5% of Canadians. Only 16.5% of military personnel are women.
“The FAC has set itself the objective of reaching 25% women by 2026. It is unlikely that we will get there,” explains Grazia Scoppio, a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada who has been interested in the issue of diversity in the military for nearly 25 years.
“All the cases of sexual misconduct have not helped recruit women and LGBTQ members,” she said. Now there was the report by Louise Arbor and other very critical ones. There is really a reflection within the Forces and I am hopeful that it will lead to a more open culture. »
In recent years, the Forces have relaxed their dress code in the interest of inclusion. Beards are now allowed, as are colored hair, nail polish even for men, and uniforms are no longer gendered.
The FAC has been accused of becoming “woke” by certain voices on the right. For researcher Grazia Scoppio, it is a question of life and death.
“I don’t believe this is a political statement. I don’t believe the CAF wants to be “politically correct”. I think these developments are necessary to better represent the Canadian reality and increase recruitment. »
PHOTO JEFF MCINTOSH, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Canada struggles to meet NATO target of spending 2% of GDP on defense
Image problems
All of these changes come as Canada’s allies rearm. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has rekindled fires and revived fronts.
Canada is struggling to reach the NATO target of spending 2% of its GDP on defense. The Trudeau government recently announced budget cuts in all ministries. That of National Defense will have to find savings of 900 million over four years, according to what the big boss of the FAC, Wayne Eyre, declared before the Standing Committee on National Defense.
For Professor Christian Leuprecht, it is mainly this underfunding that explains the recruitment difficulties of the FAC.
Last summer, CBC reported that Canadian soldiers deployed in Latvia had to buy their own helmets or raincoats.
“I don’t know if the government is doing it on purpose, but there is this impression that the government does not value this organization,” he says. So who will want to join under these conditions? That’s a shame. »
*The reality of relocations only concerns the regular force. Reservists can remain assigned to their unit.
PHOTO NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Even the United States. largest military power in the world, cannot escape the recruitment crisis
A recruitment crisis that affects allies
The recruitment crisis in the armed forces also affects Canada’s allies. In Australia, the government will pay a bonus of 50,000 Australian dollars (about 43,000 Canadian dollars) to soldiers who stay three years beyond their minimum service. The opposition is even asking the government to allow non-citizens to enlist, particularly citizens of small Pacific states or allied countries like Japan.
The British Armed Forces are seeing a 30% drop in recruitment in 2022. The crisis has been going on for years. In 2018, Britain even allowed Commonwealth citizens – including Canadians – to enlist in the British army even if they had never lived in the country.
The greatest military power in the world is not immune to the crisis. The US army was short 15,000 recruits last year, out of a target of 60,000, despite signing bonuses of up to US$50,000. A recent Gallup poll showed that only 60 percent of Americans had confidence in the military. This is the lowest figure in 25 years.