The Trudeau government’s promise of a “leaner, more agile” military has been given a head start as a DND report shows enlistment levels are the lowest they’ve been in years.

The report tabled in the House of Commons this week shows a shortage of nearly 1,900 regular force members and 5,300 part-time reservists as of March 2015, thanks to higher than expected attrition and, for reservists, “challenges in meeting recruiting quotas.”

That compares with a shortage of 900 full-time military personnel and 4,500 reservists the previous year. The military has said it needs more than 4,000 new recruits each year just to offset attrition and keep 68,000 full-time troops in uniform — the level the Harper government had vowed in 2009 to maintain.

The shortage of reservists was especially acute as the part-time force has been called upon numerous times to help with missions such as Afghanistan, or in crises at home.

Defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute said the numbers in the report put the armed forces at their smallest size since at least 2009. But rather than rushing to the rescue, the Liberal government could end up shrinking the military even more.

The Conservatives were sensitive about reducing the size of the military after criticizing previous Liberal governments for doing that in the 1990s.

But the Tories’ refusal to reduce the number of personnel in uniform at the same time it was cutting billions in defence spending put a disproportionate amount of budgetary pressure on other parts of the military, including maintenance and procurement.

One former defence chief, retired general Rick Hillier, warned in 2013 that reducing the size of the military was the only way to ensure the force remained strong and stable. He said the number of full-time members should be reduced to 50,000.

The Liberal government has promised to maintain current funding levels – which most analysts agree are unsustainable with the mandated staffing levels and planned procurement projects.

“Something has to give,” said Perry, who has estimated that cutting the size of the force by 1,000 regular-force members would save about $105 million a year.

National Defence also reported that it was short about 2,200 civilian employees, against an authorized strength of more than 24,000.

lberthiaume@postmedia.com



The Canadian Armed Forces, by the numbers

68,000: Mandated strength of the regular force

66,130: Actual strength of the regular force on March 31, 2015

1,870: Difference between mandated and actual strength

27,000: Mandated strength of the reserve force

21,707: Actual strength of the reserve force on March 31, 2015

5,293: Difference between mandated and actual strength

— Source: Department of National Defence