1)(Updated) Carney says Canada will spend 5% of its GDP on defence by 2035

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Catherine Morrison, June 25, 2025

Canada and its NATO allies have agreed to substantially hike their defence spending target to five per cent of annual GDP by 2035, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday.

Carney warned the country can no longer rely on its geography for protection as new weapons and threats emerge, and argued the deterrent value of the alliance will increase as members collectively embark on a massive defence buildup.

“The deterrence element of NATO has just gone up substantially and it’s crucial — and we would really feel it if we went in the other direction,” Carney said at a press conference on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague.

NATO members agreed Wednesday to a plan put forward by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte that says they will invest 3.5 per cent of their national GDP in core defence needs — such as jets and other hardware — and another 1.5 per cent in related areas, such as infrastructure and cybersecurity.

The new five per cent target more than doubles the previous target of two per cent, which Canada struggled to meet for years. It comes in response to repeated demands by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has long accused allies of not paying their fair share.

Carney has said the new NATO agreement will see Canada’s annual defence budget increase to roughly $150 billion.

According to NATO data, Canada’s spent $41 billion on defence in 2024, about 1.4 per cent of its GDP. Earlier this month, Carney said Canada would hike defence spending to meet the two per cent target this year.

Carney said the higher level of defence spending will boost the economy and pointed out that the 1.5 per cent “industrial element” includes spending on critical mineral development, ports, airports and telecommunications — things Canada was already looking to build.

The pledge includes no requirement for incremental annual increases to member nations’ defence budgets — leaving Canada with a decade to hit the mark.

Carney also said the new pledge will be reviewed in 2029 to “ensure that the commitments align with the global security landscape.”

The next U.S. presidential election happens in 2028 and Trump is limited by the U.S. Constitution to just two terms in office — although he has mused about somehow trying to secure a third term.

The prime minister said Wednesday he was not ready to talk about budget cuts to offset new defence spending, arguing that issue won’t emerge for years to come.

“Depending on how the threat environment evolves globally, if we are moving to the higher and higher levels of defence spending because that’s necessary, then we will have to make considerations about what less the federal government can do in certain cases and how we’re going to pay for it,” he told reporters.

“Those trade-offs happen toward the end of the decade into the next decade, and … there’s going to be a very clear and open conversation about that based on facts and based on what Canadians want.”

Canada has not spent the equivalent of five per cent of GDP on defence since the 1950s and currently no member of NATO — not even the U.S. — meets that benchmark.

Before Wednesday’s meeting, Britain, France, the Netherlands and Germany had all committed to the five per cent target. NATO countries closer to the borders of Ukraine, Russia and its ally Belarus also pledged to do so.

Some countries, like Spain and Slovakia, expressed concerns about the target.

Before Wednesday’s official meeting of the North Atlantic Council, Carney held bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand and Prime Minister Kristen Michal of Estonia.

Carney was seen chatting with several leaders in the room at Wednesday’s meeting, including French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand also went over to speak for a few minutes with U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Rutte said the meeting comes at a dangerous time, citing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

“This decision is deeply rooted in our core mission and is required to resource our plans and readiness,” Rutte said. “This will also make NATO fairer, to ensure anyone and everyone contributes their fair share for our security.

“For too long, one ally, the United States, carried too much of the burden of that commitment. And that changes today,” he added, saying that Trump “made this change possible.”

David Pierce, vice president of government relations at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, was in The Hague for the summit and presented a statement to Rutte highlighting the ties between defence and industry.

Pierce said Wednesday the NATO announcement is “seeking to meet a historic moment.” He said the conversation from now until 2035 will be about “getting the balance right.”

“Industry is ready and eager to work on the 1.5 (per cent) of the spending that involves critical minerals, transportation infrastructure and other key investments, which will spur economic growth and benefit our long-term economic resilience,” he said. — With files from The Associated Press and Kyle Duggan in Ottawa.

2) Anand says the ‘timeline’ is up for debate as NATO pursues higher defence spending

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Catherine Morrison, June 24, 2025

Canada is committed to increasing its defence spending but has questions about the “timeline” for hitting a new, higher NATO spending target, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Tuesday.

NATO leaders are expected to decide at the summit in the Netherlands this week whether to raise the spending target from two per cent to five per cent of GDP. When asked if Canada accepts that proposal, Anand said Canada has consistently supported NATO’s spending targets.

“The question, really, is the timeline,” she told reporters in The Hague.

She added some allies have proposed a 2029 deadline for meeting the target.

“We’d like to see steps along the way where there can be a re-examination of whether this is the right approach, augmenting at this rate in terms of domestic spend.”

U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte have both said they expect alliance representatives at the summit to commit to a new five per cent target, up from the current two per cent target set in 2014.

Anand said Canada’s new defence and security partnership with the European Union will expand Canada’s defence industrial base.

Asked if she had any concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump’s previous disparaging comments about NATO, Anand said Trump is engaging with NATO in a “meaningful way.”

Earlier this year, Trump suggested that the U.S. might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don’t meet defence spending targets.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Anand are in the Netherlands for the NATO summit, where allies are set to debate the five per cent target. The main talks in The Hague won’t happen until Wednesday.

In The Hague Tuesday morning, Carney met with Edgars Rinkēvičs, president of Latvia, and Dick Schoof, prime minister of the Netherlands. He was also set to meet with leaders of Nordic countries for talks focused on Arctic and transatlantic security later in the day.

The prime minister will also have an audience with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.

None of NATO’s 32 members spent five per cent of GDP on defence in 2024, according to the alliance’s own data. All of them are pledging to meet the two per cent figure this year; Canada is expected to hit the target for the first time since it was established.

A Canadian government official who briefed reporters on background before the trip said the spending target and its timeline are still up for discussion. Some allies have indicated they would prefer a seven-year timeline, while others want a decade to reach the five per cent target.

Canada’s defence spending hasn’t reached five per cent of GDP since the 1950s. NATO estimates that Canada spent $41 billion in 2024 on defence, or 1.37 per cent of GDP. In 2014, Canada spent $20.1 billion, or 1.01 per cent of GDP, on defence.

In 2014, when the current two per cent target was first set, only three NATO members hit the mark — the U.S., the U.K. and Greece.

Any new spending guidelines have to be made with the consensus of all 32 NATO member states, and no member is currently anywhere close. At 3.38 per cent, U.S. defence spending as a share of GDP was the highest in the alliance in 2024. But President Trump has said the figure shouldn’t apply to the United States — only to its allies.

The plan Rutte is expected to put forward at the summit contains some wiggle room to help allies reach that high figure.

It would commit members to spending 3.5 per cent of annual GDP on core defence needs — like jets and other weapons — and 1.5 per cent on defence-adjacent areas like infrastructure, cybersecurity and industry.

Internal divisions have emerged in the lead-up to the summit.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Sunday that Spain reached a deal with NATO to be excluded from the new spending target. Like Canada, Spain has long struggled to meet the two per cent target and has rejected the new proposal.

Rutte warned Monday that no country can opt out of the target and that progress made toward the new target will be reviewed in four years.

NATO’s defence buildup is also controversial in Italy, where defence minister Guido Crosetto said recently the alliance “no longer has a reason to exist.”

Defence Minister David McGuinty said “stay tuned” when asked earlier this month if Canada would agree to the five per cent plan.

Jan Techau, a senior fellow with the transatlantic defence and security program at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said the overall level of ambition in Europe on defence has “massively” increased over the last several years in response to Russian aggression.

“The closer to Russia you are, the more ambitious you are,” he said.

Lauren Speranza, a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said the NATO summit is coming at a “very precarious moment,” marked by uncertainty about the U.S. commitment to Europe, the grinding conflict between Russia and Ukraine and ongoing tensions over transatlantic trade.

Speranza said the meeting will offer some insights into how the Trump administration will approach the alliance going forward, following its criticisms of NATO and calls for Europe to take more responsibility for its own defence.

Carney said in a social media post Tuesday that Canada welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

“With the reported reduction in Iran’s nuclear capacity, we urge parties to adhere to the ceasefire, return to the table and negotiate a diplomatic resolution,” he said.

“That resolution should lead to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.”

Tuesday’s schedule also includes a reception and a social dinner hosted by the king and queen of the Netherlands. — With files from Kyle Duggan in Ottawa and The Associated Press

3) Canada signs new security and defence partnership with Europe

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Catherine Morrison, Jun 23, 2025.

Canada and the European Union opened a new era of transatlantic co-operation Monday with the official signing of a security and defence partnership at a joint summit in Brussels.

The agreement commits Canada and Europe to collaboration on defence and is a step toward Canada participating in the continent’s massive new defence procurement program, known as ReArm Europe.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who travelled to Brussels for the Canada-EU Summit, is pursuing more options for defence procurement as Canada seeks to reduce its reliance on the United States.

Canada and the European Union opened a new era of transatlantic co-operation Monday with the official signing of a security and defence partnership at a joint summit in Brussels.

The agreement commits Canada and Europe to collaboration on defence and is a step toward Canada participating in the continent’s massive new defence procurement program, known as ReArm Europe.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who travelled to Brussels for the Canada-EU Summit, is pursuing more options for defence procurement as Canada seeks to reduce its reliance on the United States.

Carney met with European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the summit, before the final deal was signed.

Costa said Canada and the EU are “looking at the world through the same lens” and this meeting has taken the partnership to a new level.

Von der Leyen told Carney he was “here among friends.” She said Canada and the EU are two strong democracies bound by historic ties and connected by a “dynamic, fair and open” trade partnership.

She said the EU wants not just to reaffirm the friendship and partnership with Canada but also to reshape it. She said the agreement is the “most comprehensive” ever completed.

“We know we can count on you and you can count on us,” she said.

Carney said the leaders are putting into practice some of what they discussed at the G7 and have been working on for years. Carney said the deal is crucial for Canada and “shows a way forward.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Canada and the EU will hold an annual “security and defence dialogue” involving top officials. The agreement also commits both partners to expanding co-operation in support of Ukraine, improving Canadian military mobility in Europe and enhancing maritime co-operation in regions of “mutual interest” like the Indo-Pacific.

Canada will need to sign a second agreement with the European Commission before it can take part in the 150-billion-euro ReArm Europe initiative.

The security and defence agreement also pledges further collaboration on emerging issues in cybersecurity, foreign interference, disinformation and outer space policy.

Carney also met with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever ahead of the Canada-EU Summit.

De Wever said that Canada’s partnership with the EU is vital now because “we’ve woken up in a world that doesn’t look that friendly anymore.”

A government official briefing reporters on the trip said the partnership is expected to make procurement easier and more affordable, while also allowing Canada to diversify its sources of equipment.

On Tuesday, Carney travels to The Hague for the NATO summit, where member nations will decide whether to fully endorse a substantial increase in the defence spending target, from two per cent of GDP to five per cent.

Carney said earlier this month Canada would increase its defence spending this year to meet the two per cent target for the first time since it was established in 2014.