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Cuts ordered by the Conservative government over the last several years have hurt recruiting for both the military’s regular and reserve forces, according to a Canadian Forces document obtained by the Citizen.

The military is trying to reform the recruiting process following the cuts and hopes a centralized, electronic-based recruiting system will allow it to bring in enough recruits, according to the October 2013 document that outlines steps needed to revamp the forces for the future.

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In August, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper promised to boost the size of the reserves if re-elected. Harper said a Conservative government would add 6,000 reservists, increasing the size of the force to 30,000.

The party made a similar promise in 2008 when it released its defence strategy but at that time said the process would take place over 20 years.

The boost in size never happened and the reserves are still at around 24,000, the same as in 2008.