New defence spending will still leave Canada $6B to $7B short of NATO target, Blair says

Even if Canada reaches its defence spending targets by the end of the decade, it would still be "$6 billion to $7 billion" short of NATO's two per cent of GDP benchmark for member nations, says Defence Minister Bill Blair.

The federal government's new national defence strategy, released Monday, pledged an increase in military spending of $8.1 billion over the next five years — which would move the needle on the country's investment in defence from 1.33 per cent of the gross domestic product to 1.76 per cent.

Appearing before the Senate committee on national security and defence late Monday, Blair described the new policy as a plan to put «in place the conditions to achieve the two per cent» — an alliance target originally agreed to by the former Conservative government in 2014 and reaffirmed by the Liberals last year.

Both Blair and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have hinted there are more defence investments to come. The minister told senators those plans could «easily move us into that two per cent threshold.»

NATO allies have been demanding that member countries come up with concrete plans to reach the goal.

Blair told senators he asked his department how far the additional funds would leave the defence budget from reaching NATO's target and was told to expect an annual gap of $6 billion to $7 billion. Much, he said, will depend upon the performance of the Canadian economy into the early 2030s.

The investment numbers are not the only major hurdle the new policy has to get past.

The Trudeau government has promised a renewed focus on addressing the shortfall in military personnel, which Blair has estimated at 16,500 members, both regular and reserve force.

The new strategy doesn't foresee the military returning to its authorized