NEWS RELEASE
NATIONAL DEFENCE / CANADIAN ARMED FORCES
Permanent residents represent an important, skilled, and diverse workforce in Canada. This is why the Minister of National Defence, Anita Anand announced on 5 December that permanent residents are welcome to apply to enroll in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
The authority for the enrolment of a citizen of another country, who has permanent resident status under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, has been delegated by the Chief of the Defence Staff to the Commander Military Personnel Command and the Commander Canadian Forces Recruiting Group.
Currently, the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group accepts trained applicants from foreign militaries. These applicants include pilots, logistics officers, infantry officers and other skilled professionals, who may become enrolled in the CAF if they have permanent resident status in Canada. The intent is to broaden the pool to enable other permanent residents, who meet the same criteria as Canadian citizens to enroll in the CAF as new recruits or officer cadets.
The CAF encourages permanent residents to give serious consideration to a military career in Canada. Canada offers facilitated pathways to citizenship by recognizing the military service to Canada of permanent residents who join the CAF, and citizenship applications from CAF members will be processed on a priority basis by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Changing the culture within the CAF supports the recruitment of new members and allows us to retain existing members as the Department of National Defence and the CAF continue efforts to build an institution where everyone feels safe, protected, and respected.
“Permanent residents make up a skilled and talented component of Canada’s population – and that is why today’s announcement is important news. Enrolment of permanent residents will help us grow our military with qualified, well-trained people who choose a career in uniform. We will continue to work hard every day to build a military that attracts and retains people from all parts of our society who want to serve Canada.” – The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence
Quick Facts
- The CAF recruiting system is now open for applications from both Canadian citizens and permanent residents. We encourage all interested individuals to start the application process here: https://forces.ca/en/apply-now/.
- The CAF is recruiting for more than 100 occupations – many are new and leading-edge such as radiologists, and marine technicians.
- Canada plans to welcome 465,000 new permanent residents in 2023, as well as 485,000 in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025. The immigration levels plan forecasts that more than 50% of permanent residents will be admitted via economic programs, such as the Federal High Skilled or Provincial Nominee Programs.
