OTTAWA, Canada: Canada will spend over $30 billion to monitor Russian and Chinese military movements in the Arctic over the next two decades.
This spending would be the largest in Canada in decades to bolster its military preparedness. It also comes following pledges made to the United States by Canada to upgrade its capabilities to help defend North America, as part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or Norad.
In recent years, military analysts have said that Norad’s technology was not keeping up with advances in Russia’s development of a new generation of long-range air and sea-launched cruise missiles, and hypersonic missiles.
Reports from China indicate it is also developing a new generation of missiles.
The threat to Canada has increased following Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, according to Canadian officials. They note that Russia now has the ability to supply military operations across the high Arctic, due to its modernized military bases across its northern coast.
Last year, U.S. President Joe Biden called upon Canada to increase spending to support its northern military bases. At that time, Canada agreed to move ahead on upgrades.
However, U.S. officials have recently criticized Canada for not yet approving additional military funding.
This week, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand announced that the government would allocate $30 billion over two decades, with some $4 billion in modernization planned in the next six years.
During a press conference this week, Anand said the initial spending would focus on purchasing a new surveillance and early-warning system that covers the Arctic Circle.
“The threat environment has changed,” Anand acknowledged, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This has required us to devise and develop this new chapter in continental defense.” She said most of the spending will occur in the north, in the Arctic, due to “the proximity of Russia to Canada’s north.”
For months, Anand has promised a serious increase in Canadian military spending, along with a plan to modernize Norad early warning systems.
U.S. ambassador to Canada, David Cohen, told the National Post newspaper in June that the Liberal government’s public statements on updating defense capabilities had not yet been supported by government actions. However, after Canada said it would improve Arctic surveillance, Cohen said the U.S. welcomed Ottawa’s commitment to defend North America and bolster the continent’s security.
Anessa Kimball, a professor at Universit Laval in Quebec City, said Canada spends considerably less in defending the Arctic, than does the U.S., Russia and smaller states, such as Sweden and Finland.
“Everybody has wanted Canada to do more in the Arctic,” Kimball said. “Canada has kicked the can down the road, and you can only do that for so long,” she said, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
