Canada First Defence Strategy
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The ''Canada First'' Defence Strategy (CFDS) was the military
recruitment Recruitment is the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. Recruitment also is the processes involved in choosing individua ...
,
procurement Procurement is the method of discovering 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. When a government agency buys goods or s ...
, and improvement strategy of the former
Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in ...
of
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. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
to improve the overall effectiveness of the
Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...
. The strategy aimed to enforce
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
sovereignty with the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...
and the
Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) 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 ...
. CFDS was superseded by the defence policy of the Liberal Government introduced in 2017 entitled, " Strong, Secure and Engaged" (the SSE).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 ), 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 protection ...
. * Support a major international event in Canada, such as the
2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy Greene Wayne G ...
. * 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 that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of tw ...
aircraft – Final delivery in 2015 *
C-130J Hercules The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is a 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 the newest v ...
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 Procurement Strategy ...
– 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 CASA C-295 (now Airbus C295) is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was designed and initially manufactured by the Spanish aerospace company CASA. Work on what would become the C-295 was started during the 1990s as a derivative of ...
aircraft. * destroyers and frigates – construction of the future
Canadian Surface Combatant The Canadian Surface Combatant, formerly the Single Class Surface Combatant Project is the name given to the procurement project that will replace the and warships with up to 15 new ships beginning in the mid to late 2020s as part of the Natio ...
was a core component of CFDS but the start date pushed back; construction of the lead ship is now expected to begin in 2024 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 are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
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 Ne ...
s as the primary air superiority fighter – initial first delivery originally expected in 2013; delayed thereafter (under SSE contract now not expected until at least 2022 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.


See also

*
Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...
*
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 ...
*
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 Procurement Strategy ...
*
Department of National Defence Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...


References

{{reflist Canadian Armed Forces