The ''Canada First'' Defence Strategy (CFDS) was the military

recruitment Recruitment is #Process, the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for Job (role), jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. Recruitment also is the process involved in ...

procurement Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual ...

, and improvement strategy of the former

Canadian government The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown ( ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

to improve the overall effectiveness of the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

. The strategy aimed to enforce

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

sovereignty with the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

and the

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; ) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and i ...

. CFDS was superseded by the defence policy of the Liberal Government introduced in 2017 entitled, " Strong, Secure and Engaged" (the SSE).

Purpose

The purpose of the ''Canada First'' Defence Strategy was to give Canada a modern military with clearly defined missions and capabilities. The strategy focused on many key military functions and operations and on improving the equipment and fleets that the Canadian Forces operates. Many of the equipment capability objectives of CFDS were continued under the subsequent SSE.

Missions

The ''Canada First'' Defence Strategy was focused on six core missions as the level of ambition for the Canadian Forces. According to the strategy the forces must be able to support all of the following operations and if necessary, support them all simultaneously. * Conduct daily domestic and continental operations, including in the Arctic and through

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ; , CDAAN), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and pr ...

. * Support a major international event in Canada, such as the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

. * Respond to a major terrorist attack. * Support civilian authorities during a crisis in Canada such as a natural disaster. * Lead and/or conduct a major international operation for an extended period. * Deploy forces in response to crises elsewhere in the world for shorter periods.

Personnel

The ''Canada First'' Defence Strategy also sought to increase the number of personnel in the Canadian Forces in order to improve the military's operational effectiveness. In 2008, the Canadian Forces had approximately 65,000 active personnel and 26,000 reserve personnel. However, the CFDS planned to increase personnel levels to 70,000 full-time and 30,000 reserve (mix of full- and part-time) sometime in the next 20 years, with an increase to 67,000 full-time personnel by 2009/2010, 68,000 by 2011/2012 and 69,300 by 2014/2015. The reserves (combined full- and part-time) were to reach 27,000 by 2011/2012 and 28,000 by 2014/2015. Some of this growth was slowed in the aftermath of the end of Canadian involvement in the war in Afghanistan.

Equipment improvement and replacement

The CFDS provided a plan to invest $15 billion on the improvement and replacement of Canadian Forces' major fleets and equipment, to include: *

C-17 Globemaster The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) between the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previ ...

aircraft – Final delivery in 2015 *

C-130J Hercules The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, flight deck, and other systems. The C-130J is th ...

aircraft – Final delivery in 2013 *

Arctic Patrol Ship Project ''Harry DeWolf''-class offshore patrol vessels are warships of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) built within the Government of Canada Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) procurement project, part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy. In July 2 ...

– Contract awarded January 2015 – steel cut starting September 2015; delivery of AOPS 1 occurred in 2020. * CH-47F Chinook helicopters – Final delivery 2013 * Trucks *

Joint Support Ship Project The ''Protecteur'' class (formerly known as the ''Queenston'' class) of naval auxiliaries for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) began as the Joint Support Ship Project, a Government of Canada procurement project for the RCN that is part of the Na ...

– preliminary work on the lead ship modules only commenced in 2018. Another $20 billion was committed for equipment replacement and improvement in the future, to include: * fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft – contract awarded in 2016 for 16

C-295 The Airbus C295 (previously CASA C-295) is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was designed and initially manufactured by the Spanish aerospace company CASA, which is now part of the European multinational Airbus Defence and Space divis ...

aircraft. * destroyers and frigates – construction of the future

Canadian Surface Combatant The River-class destroyer, formerly the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC), and Single Class Surface Combatant Project is the procurement project that will replace the and warships with up to 15 new ships beginning in the early 2030s as part of ...

was a core component of CFDS but the start date pushed back; construction of the lead ship is now expected to begin in 2025/26 following on the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship program. * maritime patrol aircraft – in lieu of new aircraft as proposed in CFDS, upgrades of 14 Aurora aircraft were carried out to keep them flying until 2030 * 65 new next-generation

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

to replace the

CF-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

s as the primary

air superiority fighter An air superiority fighter (also styled air-superiority fighter) is a fighter aircraft designed to seize control of enemy airspace by establishing tactical dominance (air superiority) over the opposing air force. Air-superiority fighters are pri ...

– initial first delivery originally expected in 2013; delayed thereafter (under SSE contract now not expected until at least 2026 though envisaged numbers increased to 88). * land combat vehicles and systems – Ongoing procurement throughout the timespan of the CFDS

Funding

The ''Canada First'' Defence Strategy was also primarily focused on the funding for the Canadian Forces, and the strategy outlined plans to increase funding for the Canadian Forces from $18 billion in 2007–2008 to over $30 billion in 2027–2028. The overall funding and investments in the forces will amount to $490 billion over the 20-year period of the strategy. This projected spending increase was slowed by the Harper government after the end of the war in Afghanistan.

References