Minister of Defense Bill Blair says Canada could hit its NATO defense spending Target in just a few years if necessary, but has not committed to doing so.
NATO members have all committed to spending the equivalent of 2% of its GDP on defense, but Canada has still not achieved this objective.
Last summer, following successful reactions from Republican lawmakers in the United States, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared that Canadian defense spending would hit the two percent marker in 2032.
But there was no clear plan to get there, and some military analysts questioned whether 2032 was possible.
Today, when Blair was asked by a reporter if Canada could reach that mark in two years, Blair responded that it was “absolutely achievable” but stopped short of saying it would happen.
He has previously suggested he wants to see the timeline sped up, but has not offered any clues about how much of a reaction.
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Blair made the comments as the Liberal caucus huddled on Parliament Hill to talk about Canadian-American relations and next steps for the party.
He said if Canada can reach two percent, his concern is managing spending “responsibly.”
Blair says Canada is considering how to accelerate its plan to increase investment in Canada’s armed forces and wants to “get that work done as quickly as possible,” but made no commitments Friday.
President Donald Trump has thundered that NATO allies are not paying their fair share and now insists they should spend five percent.
He also threatened to slam Canada with 25% tariffs on all imports starting next week which would deal a blow to Canadian GDP.
Former Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan admitted that this would affect the spending ratio and the NATO figure would increase – although no one wants that.
“If your GDP goes down, yes, you can easily reach those numbers,” he said.
“That’s something we always remind people about,” he noted. “We prefer to spend on defense through investments based on our GDP growth.”
Blair also said it wasn’t just an accounting exercise and it really should all be about the substance of the investments, not the big numbers.
NATO allies agreed in 2014 to work toward the two percent target and in 2023 committed to hitting it.
NATO figures from last June suggest Canada spent 1.37% of its GDP on defense in 2024. The Liberals have said they expect to reach 1.76% by the end of the decade and two percent in 2032, but the parliamentary budget officer said his analysis suggests it will be closer to 1.58% in 2030.
& Copy 2025 The Canadian Press