Canada looks on track to meet NATO’s military spending guideline soon, Defence Minister Bill Blair said Friday, notably by boosting investment in the Arctic near its shared border with Russia as the region warms quickly due to climate change.
Last year, as it became clear that Russia’s war with Ukraine would grind on, they decided that 2 per cent should be a spending minimum. According to NATO figures, Canada was estimated to be spending 1.33 per cent of GDP on its military budget in 2023. He said that Canada is investing “quite significantly in the high Arctic” and building new military capabilities like maritime sensors that can detect threats.