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Defense Minister: Canada to Meet NATO Minimum Defense Spending by 2027

Defense Minister: Canada to Meet NATO Minimum Defense Spending by 2027

Canada could appropriate 2 percent of its gross domestic product for defense spending by 2027 to meet a NATO requirement, Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair said.

Blair, in an interview with CBC News, expressed his optimism that the target could be met five years ahead of the planned 2032 deadline announced by outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Besides Canada, which spent about 1.37 percent of its GDP in 2024, seven other NATO member states have been failing to meet the target.

While the defense minister’s statement follows President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Canada be the 51st U.S. state, Blair maintained that “to attribute it only in response to a particular individual, I think, is wrong.”

“We have been working hard to accelerate that spending to get the job done as quickly as possible. But that’s in Canada’s national interests, it’s not just in response to threats made by what we’ve always considered our closest ally and friend,” the politician said.

Gen. Jennie Carignan, the country’s chief of defense staff, is supporting Blair’s 2027 target, claiming that the Canadian Armed Forces has the money needed to comply with the alliance’s directive.

“Because the longer we wait, the less platforms or equipment we can get for the same amount of money. So we’ve crafted a way ahead to pull on the investments earlier,” said Carignan in a recent interview with Rosemary Barton.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene is the latest official to highlight the need for NATO to amend the minimum defense spending among its members. She suggested the alliance set the minimum to at least 3 percent of the GDP to meet current and future challenges.

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