On July 31, 2016, the Department of National Defence (DND) concluded an unprecedented public consultation in support of the development of a new defence policy for Canada. Between April and July 2016, DND engaged Canadians, industry, allies, partners, parliamentarians, and key stakeholders to discuss three fundamental areas:

The main challenges to Canada’s security The role of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in addressing current threats and challenges The resources and capabilities needed to carry out the CAF mandate

Defending Canada and protecting Canadians is the Government’s most fundamental responsibility. The Defence Policy Review will provide the clarity needed to balance priorities, respond to emerging challenges, and invest appropriately in Canada’s military.

To help guide discussions, DND prepared a public consultation paper to inform the public about the role of the Canadian Armed Forces and the issues affecting their current operating environment, defence capabilities, and the future defence force.

In response, DND received almost 20,200 submissions to the Defence Policy Review online consultation portal and over 4,700 participants contributed comments and votes using the online discussion forum. At the same time, the Department and parliamentarians undertook in-person discussions, roundtables and meetings with defence experts, industry representatives, academia, indigenous leaders, and international allies and partners. DND has reviewed the input it received from these consultations, and this feedback is being used to help inform the development of Canada’s new defence policy.

The following four reports summarize the comments received from the Canadian public, defence stakeholders, industry, indigenous groups and leaders, and experts on gender-based issues during the consultation process.

DND also thanks the Standing Committee on National Defence for their report on Canada and the Defence of North America: NORAD and Aerial Readiness (PDF, 1676 kB), which examined “issues of relevance to inform the development of a new defence policy” as well as input received from a number of Members of Parliament who conducted regional and local consultations in their ridings.

DND thanks all those who took the time to contribute their feedback throughout the consultation process.

Who was consulted

Canadians

Canadians had the opportunity to contribute to the discussion at roundtables hosted by Parliamentarians or online via web portal. Online feedback was provided two ways: anonymously, via a workbook, or by logging in and joining the discussion forum.

DND has received approximately 20,200 submissions to the Defence Policy Review online consultation portal and over 4,700 participants have contributed comments and votes using the online discussion forum.

Expert Stakeholders

Eight cross-country roundtable meetings were held in Vancouver, Yellowknife, Edmonton, Toronto, two in Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax with academics and experts from various fields of expertise. Two of these meetings were specifically focused on defence procurement and gender and diversity issues. A total of 107 participants contributed to these roundtable discussions.

A discussion meeting was also held with Indigenous leaders and groups in order to gain their perspective on defence-related issues.

Participants provided short submissions ahead of the meetings, which were used alongside the public consultation paper to guide the discussions. Read what the experts have to say in these submissions.

Parliamentarians

Minister Sajjan invited the House and Senate Committees on National Defence to study issues of relevance to the policy review.

He also asked Members of Parliament to reach into their communities to conduct roundtable meetings with Canadians and submit their comments. An online toolkit was developed to help facilitate these events and over 50 MP and Senators hosted community roundtable discussions and forums with Canadians across the country. MPs and Senators provided feedback to DND of what was heard at these meetings.

Allies and Partners

Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan met with a number of Allies and partners over the past months including with the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Germany, Japan and France – all of whom have provided valuable feedback, with many having recently completed their own defence policy reviews. Multilaterally, he held discussions at NORAD, NATO and the 2016 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

Additionally, Provincial and Territorial governments were engaged and a number of third-party organizations held roundtables, panel discussions and conferences.