Canada will attempt to build a 300,000-person contingent by inducting volunteer public servants into the military’s supplementary reserve under a directive signed in May 2025 by Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan and Defence Deputy Minister Stefanie Beck.
The nine-page unclassified directive says federal and provincial employees would receive a one-week course covering firearms handling, truck driving and drone operation, then complete one week of training annually.
Entry standards would be eased compared with the existing Reserve Force. The document states that criteria for age, physical and fitness requirements “should be less restrictive than the Reserve Force.”
Inductees would not be issued uniforms and their annual service would be covered medically but would not count toward pension accrual.
The plan would expand the dormant Supplementary Reserve from 4,384 personnel today to 300,000 in an emergency. In parallel, the current part-time Primary Reserve of 23,561 would rise to 100,000.
Participation would be voluntary. DND spokeswoman Andrée-Anne Poulin said planning has begun “to explore how the CAF could contribute to greater national resilience, including leveraging increased readiness from an expanded Reserve Force for defence purposes, in times of crisis, or for natural disasters for example.”
To prepare the legal and administrative ground, Carignan and Beck approved a “tiger team” to map required legislative changes and other enablers.
The directive also calls for consultations with allies, including Finland, described as a leader on national mobilization. Finland operates a conscription-based model in which men aged 18 to 60 have service liability and women can volunteer, and its government has proposed raising the reservist age limit to 65.
The mobilization plan arrives amid documented recruiting pressure. Last month, Auditor General Karen Hogan reported that the Canadian Armed Forces is not recruiting enough skilled personnel to meet operational needs, citing shortages in occupations such as pilots and ammunition technicians.
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