Carney promises Canadian defence spending boost if he wins election

The plan will help ensure that Canada is strong at home, strong abroad, he says

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney walks across the tarmac, on day two of his Liberal Party election campaign tour, at Gander International Airport in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada Mar 24, 2025. REUTERS/Blair Gable

Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday promised an "unprecedented acceleration of investment" in Canada's armed forces if his ruling Liberal Party wins a general election on Apr 28.

US President Donald Trump, who is threatening to impose tariffs on Canada and often muses about annexing the country, complains that Ottawa does not spend enough on defense.

"Our sovereignty faces the greatest threats in generations. The world is becoming more divided and dangerous, and this plan will help ensure that Canada is strong at home, strong abroad," Carney said.

"We're defending our borders, our sovereignty, our minerals, our water, our land, our way of life," he told a televised press conference at a shipyard in the Atlantic port of Halifax.

Carney, who did not give precise details of how much his government would spend, also said that Canada would buy new submarines and heavy icebreakers and modernise an outdated and inefficient military procurement system.

Ottawa, which regularly fails to meet recruitment goals, would overhaul the process of attracting new members of the military and would give all serving members a pay raise, Carney said, but gave no details.

Canada, pressured by successive US administrations to increase defense spending, last year pledged billions more for the armed forces and said military expenditures would be closer to the NATO target by 2030.

Opinion polls suggest that the Liberals will win more seats than the official opposition Conservatives but may not have enough legislators to create a stable majority government.