On April 20, 2026, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) announced that it met its Regular Force recruiting objective for the second consecutive year, while highlighting an increased objective for fiscal year 2026/27.
Current Recruiting Landscape
In fiscal year 2025/26, the CAF enrolled 7,310 Regular Force members, surpassing its recruiting target of 6,957 new members and marking the highest number of enrolments in more than 30 years.
Women represented 17% of these enrolments. The CAF also enrolled 1,400 permanent residents, the highest number since 2022. These gains reflect sustained progress, while highlighting the continued work required to expand the applicant pool across all demographics.
In fiscal year 2026/27, the CAF will continue to grow and invest in recruitment with further increased recruiting objective of 8,200 enrolments. In line with Our North, Strong and Free: A Renewed Vision for Canada's Defence, this reaffirms the CAF's commitment to scaling recruiting while continuing to align intake with training, integration, and support capacity.
Managing Increased Demand Through Modernization
Digital Onboarding System
The CAF will introduce a Digital Onboarding System (DOS) in the next fiscal year. DOS will initially focus on high-impact onboarding activities that can be introduced earlier in the recruiting and training pipeline. The system is designed to better prepare candidates ahead of basic training by supporting administrative readiness, early engagement, and foundational mental and physical preparation.
The focus of the DOS is on shifting non-training administrative activities earlier in the pipeline to reduce administrative burden during BMQ/BMOQ and protect training time for core military skills.
The DOS will support broader CAF personnel modernization by leveraging enterprise integration, reducing duplication across systems, enabling scalable personnel initiatives, and improving visibility of candidate progression and outcomes.
Digital Recruiting System
The Digital Recruiting System (DRS) will enable centralized case management and precision processing across the recruiting enterprise. By enhancing recruiter visibility and customer service, and introducing automation and data-driven insights, DRS will improve efficiency, consistency, and decision speed. This will support higher intake volumes without proportionate increases in recruiter workload.
Online Application Portal 2.0
Online Application Portal 2.0 (OAP 2.0) will introduce an improved applicant communication experience as well as introduce a more agile base platform from which future tasks can be developed as part of the recruiting process. OAP 2.0 represents the next phase of applicant-facing digital transformation. It will further streamline candidate workflows through expanded use of web‑based forms, reducing duplication and manual data entry and will continue to serve as an enabling layer for future integration with enterprise recruiting systems.
Increasing Basic Training Capacity
The CAF is working continuously to increase its training capabilities. Training establishments are growing by improving the infrastructure and training regimens to support large-scale training through the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and its detachment at Canadian Forces Base Borden. This will provide the CAF with the personnel needed to meet current and future operational demands with significantly more recruits per year.
Basic Military Qualification (BMQ) / Basic Military Officer Qualification (BMOQ)
BMQ/BMOQ will grow training capacity to support an external Strategic Intake Plan of 8,200 enrolments, supported by approximately 10,000 training seats to account for course sequencing and attrition.
The Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School had its most productive year since the height of Canada's mission in Afghanistan with 7,219 new CAF members being trained and 77% graduating.
Recruitment Statistics
Enrolments by Fiscal Year
Fiscal Year 2025/26 enrolment numbers represent an historic high, surpassing those from the height of Canada's mission in Afghanistan.
Recent historical enrolment numbers by fiscal year are as follows:
| Fiscal Year | Regular Force |
|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 7310 |
| 2024/25 | 6710 |
| 2023/24 | 4334 |
| 2022/23 | 3924 |
| 2021/22 | 4782 |
| 2020/21 | 2011 |
Applications by Fiscal Year
An Age, Citizenship, Education (ACE) verified application represents the number of applicants that have submitted the required documents to confirm their eligibility, such as age, citizenship, and level of education.
Below are ACE verified applications by fiscal year.
| Fiscal year | ACE verified Applicants |
|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 44,818 |
| 2024/25 | 27,700 |
| 2023/24 | 12,269 |
| 2022/23 | 9,865 |
| 2021/22 | 10,020 |
| 2020/21 | 9,174 |
Enrolments by Employment Equity - Fiscal year 2025/26
Since the start of the fiscal year 2025/26 in April 2025, women represented approximately 17% of enrolments into the Regular Force, representing continued success from last fiscal year. 1,275 women enrolled in the Regular Force, which is now the highest number in the last 10 years.
| Employment Equity | Enrolments | Percentage of Enrolments |
|---|---|---|
| Women | 1,275 | 17.1% |
| Indigenous | 241 | 3.3% |
| Racialized Persons | 2,488 | 35.2% |
Permanent Residents
In fiscal year 2025/26, the CAF enrolled 1,400 permanent residents (PRs). Representing an increasing trend from last year's 823 PR enrolments and the highest number since 2022. PRs enrollments and applications by fiscal year are as follows:
| Fiscal Year | Enrolled |
|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 1,400 |
| 2024-25 | 823 |
| 2023-24 | 109 |
| 2022 (starting November 2022) | 7 |
On February 23, 2026, the CAF updated the enrolment eligibility requirements of PR; as most military occupations require members to be Canadian citizens or to have completed three years of physical residency in Canada as a PR to become fully employable. This update to eligibility requirements reflects occupation-specific operational needs that are, critical in enabling complete occupation-specific training.
Applicants must be either:
- a Canadian citizen, or
- a permanent resident with at least three years of physical presence in Canada, to be eligible to join the CAF.
PRs are currently eligible to apply for more than 90 occupations across the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. Occupational eligibility is based on candidate suitability, CAF requirements, and applicant interests.
Critical Occupation Recruitment Allowance (CORA)
Although the CAF has been successful in meeting its overall recruiting goal over the past two fiscal years, it continues to experience critical shortages in key occupations needed to maintain operational readiness. While Critical Occupation Recruiting Allowance (CORA) benefits were implemented in November 2025, and the full impact on applications is not yet known, it is notable that most occupations eligible for CORA achieved at least 90% of their strategic intake targets in the fiscal year 2025/2026.
Effective November 1, 2025, the CORA applies to new recruits in Non-Commissioned Member trades where trained strength is below 76% of authorized levels. The allowance is not retroactive and is paid in three installments upon completion of basic training, upon achieving trade qualification, and after six years of service with a commitment to serve an additional three years. For the current list of critical occupations, visit Life in the Forces.
Office of the Auditor General Report on Recruiting
The Department of National Defence agrees with the Auditor General's recommendations and acknowledges the findings. Efforts are underway to modernize recruitment systems and strengthen the management of basic and occupational training, while incorporating best practices and adapting to evolving requirements.
The CAF is actively optimizing and modernizing its recruitment system to better align with expectations of today's applicants. Recruitment and training approaches are continuously reviewed and refined based on best practices, while remaining staying flexible and responsive to lessons learned and evolving needs. These efforts directly support the Auditor General's recommendations related to recruitment processing, training throughput, and applicant experience.
