The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) says Canada has met its commitment to spend 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.
In its 2025 annual report, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed that Canada has met the spending target for the first time since 1990.
Last year, Canada spent $63.4 billion on its defense and military, equivalent to 2% of GDP.
Reaching the military spending target is a major milestone for Canada, which has long been criticized as a laggard within NATO.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in particular, has called out Canada on multiple occasions for failing to adequately spend on its own defense and the NATO alliance.
In 2024, Canada spent only 1.37% of its GDP on defence, one of nine laggard countries in the 32-member NATO military alliance.
Canada had long promised to hit the 2% defence spending target by 2032. But Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government dramatically moved up that timeline.
Over the past year, the federal government in Ottawa has pledged to spend billions of dollars more on airbases, ports, and military equipment.
Canada also promised to hire nearly 7,000 troops to reach its full “authorized force” of 71,500 uniformed military personnel.
Ottawa has also signed a $19 billion deal to acquire 88 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin (LMT) and signed a $10.4 billion deal for P-8A Poseidon aircraft from Boeing Co. (BA).
Prime Minister Carney has made national defense and securing Canada’s borders a priority for his government.
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