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Canada’s military is having to accept new recruits who are fatter, less educated and harder to motivate than previous generations because quality applicants are in dwindling supply, an internal Defence Department audit has concluded.

Despite an end to combat operations in Afghanistan and deep budget cuts, officials say the military needs more than 4,000 new recruits each year to offset attrition and keep 68,000 full-time troops in uniform.

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According to the audit conducted last year but only recently made public, Canadian military recruiters are expected “to encourage dedicated individuals, who are mentally and physically fit, towards military service as a career of choice.”

However, the department’s auditors found that “recently, this has been an increasingly difficult challenge.”

Compared to previous generations, recruits of today are described as harder to motivate

The Canadian Forces has historically drawn heavily on young, white males from rural communities to fill its ranks, but the auditors cited recent census data showing that “traditional pool” has been steadily shrinking.

“Factors such as increased levels of education, an aging workforce, a labour pool increasingly made up of immigrants, and the changing expectations regarding the nature of work among the 17- to 29-year-olds have also been contributing to challenges in recruiting,” they added.