Canada’s NATO Latvia Mission Drains Army Vehicles At Home

Canada’s NATO deterrence mission in Latvia has pulled over 400 vehicles out of the Canadian Army’s fleet, leaving insufficient equipment to support both the deployed brigade and a similar-sized training exercise at home, Maj. Gen. Robert Ritchie told the House of Commons defence committee.

Ritchie, director of the strategic joint staff, said the mission requires troops to train on the exact systems they will fight with.

“We do not have a mirror complement of that equipment in Canada, nor is it required,” he said. “The vehicles that the individuals are using for that [Latvia] deployment are the ones that they need to conduct the pre-deployment training on so that they understand the systems and have the trust and confidence in using that equipment.”

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While Ritchie did not quantify how deep the shortage runs across other overseas or domestic tasks, a single brigade’s deployment seems to limit the army’s ability to field an equivalent force for concurrent training in Canada.

Defence analysts have flagged the gap as Ottawa advances plans to rebuild and re-arm the forces. Critics argue the change in deployment means soldiers are less immediately fight-ready and must learn more in-theatre.

CBC News first reported the overhaul in spring 2024. At that time, the department denied funding drove the decision.

However, Ritchie defended the move as mission-aligned and strategically useful.

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“There is a deterrence effect by virtue of conducting the training in location on the front line for which the multinational group is defending,” he reasoned, adding that a “conglomerate of reasons” led to relocating pre-deployment training, which was “exceptionally well received by Latvia and all the allies.”

Based on Internal Defence documents cited, during the most recent rotation, Canadian troops lacked a “venue during workup training,” forcing “a more academic approach to preparations” for Exercise Oak Resolve. The absence of a proper venue directly undercut the stated objective of hands-on, system-specific pre-deployment training.

A critical shortage of spare parts has further reduced vehicle availability, compelling the brigade to park vehicles including Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks, the documents say. The drivers include Canadian “supply chain issues, parts backlog,” and a new “compressed” training regime that concentrates combined arms work-ups in Latvia rather than Canada, increasing wear without a fully resourced repair pipeline.

Ritchie told MPs that new funding is aimed at reversing the parts deficit.

“The recent budget commitment has enabled major spare parts orders delivery, and we have undertaken that at speed,” he said, referencing the federal government’s $9.3 billion defence injection this year. He also pointed to past decisions that “eroded” the army’s spares reserve and saw “long-standing suppliers pivot to other contracts.”

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