Say NO to Carney’s plan to boost military spending to $150 billion per year! For real peace, cut the Canadian military budget by 75%.

About a year ago, the CBC featured a story headlined, “Everybody Agrees that Canada Should Spend More on Defence” – a blanket statement not supported by any evidence. But it is true that the CBC and the big corporate media are demanding huge increases in Canada’s military budget, when the only threat to our sovereignty and independence comes from Donald Trump, who calls for hostile US takeovers of countries across the western hemisphere and beyond.

After the 2025 federal election, new PM Mark Carney tabled a federal budget allocating record spending on the military. Saying one thing while doing the opposite, “Elbows Up” Carney surrendered to Trump’s edict that NATO countries must devote five percent of GDP to war preparations. Canada is on the path to spending up to $150 billion annually for war by the year 2035. This means almost $4000 every year for every person living in Canada – an amount that could, if directed to meeting public needs, give a huge boost to programs that would actually benefit working class families.

Here are some specific examples:

  • It would cost $15-20 billion per year to provide free prescription drugs for all under a new Canada-wide pharmacare program.
  • Allocating $25-30 billion per year would pay for over 500,000 affordable homes over a decade.
  • For $20-25 billion per year, Canada could make post-secondary education tuition-free, expand the $10/day child care program nationwide, and increase funding for skills training and apprenticeships.
  • A guaranteed minimum income program providing $20,000-plus per year would cost an estimated $40-50 billion annually.
  • A program to electrify public transit and retrofit buildings for energy efficiency would cost about $15 billion per year.

In addition to meeting the real needs of the peoples of Canada redirecting wasted war spending towards crucial climate mitigation priorities would be immensely positive. As United Nations Secretary General Antonia Guterres has emphasized “Military expenditures harm the planet because it is emissions-intensive. Each dollar allocated to the military generates more than twice the greenhouse gas emissions of a dollar spent elsewhere.”

In total, about $120 billion annually could fund these urgent priority challenges, and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. All for much less than the projected goal of $150 annual spending on NATO’s war preparations.

This is not a pipe dream. But it would take a massive campaign to demand a dramatic shift in fiscal and political priorities, towards peace, sovereignty, people’s needs and a sustainable climate, not gearing up for new military conflicts.

For more information, contact the Canadian Peace Congress at info@canadianpeacecongress.ca. Consider joining one of our local chapters located across the country.

Executive Committee, Canadian Peace Congress
April 7, 2026