Vast majority of permanent residents applying to join military not accepted in 1st year of eligibility: data

The Canadian Armed Forces has received more than 21,000 applications from permanent residents eager to join the chronically understaffed military full time — but CBC News has learned that less than 100 of them have made it into the regular force in the year since they were allowed to sign up.

In 2022, the federal government lifted a ban on permanent residents enlisting in the military after the country's top commander warned of a critical shortfall in personnel.

Gen. Wayne Eyre, chief of the defence staff, said that given the «significant number of demands around the world, there's just not enough Canadian Forces to do everything.»

Out of 21,472 applications from permanent residents received between Nov. 1, 2022 and Nov. 24, 2023 (the first full year of eligibility), less than one per cent were accepted into the regular forces — just 77 people, according to the Department of National Defence.

And of the 6,928 permanent residents who applied to join the navy, army and air force reserves, just 76 were enrolled between Nov. 1, 2022 and Jan. 26, 2024, the department told CBC News.

Defence Minister Bill Blair said he's not satisfied with those numbers.

«I frankly think it's not good enough and it's potentially an opportunity lost,» Blair told CBC News.

«I believe that there are very many of those permanent residents in Canada who would make outstanding members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and quite frankly, we need more people in the Canadian Armed Forces.»

Brig.-Gen. Krista Brodie, the commander overseeing military recruitment, said that the application «process takes time.»

«Certainly it's frustrating, and we field those frustrations from candidates and from Canadians and from our own chain of command all the time,» she told CBC