The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has announced that permanent residents, which include a large chunk of Indians, are now eligible to join the military. The announcement came close to Remembrance Day amid reports that the Canadian military is struggling to recruit new members to fill thousands of vacancies. As of 2021, there were more than eight million permanent immigrants living in Canada—about 21.5 percent of the total Canadian population. That same year, nearly 100,000 Indians became permanent residents of Canada as the country welcomed a record 405,000 new immigrants in its history. According to figures, Canada is likely to welcome more than one million new permanent residents between 2022 and 2024, which drastically expands the pool of candidates from which the military can choose. Permanent residents were previously eligible only under the Skilled Military Foreign Applicant (SMFA) entry program, which was “open to individuals … who would reduce the cost of training or meet a special need … such as a trained pilot or a doctor.” according to the Royal United Services Institute of Nova Scotia, a non-profit organization. The Department of National Defense (DND) is expected to make an official announcement in the coming days about the policy change, CIC News reported. In March, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said the CAF needed to be developed amid the changing global geopolitical landscape caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In September, the CAF sounded the alarm about a severe shortage of recruits to fill thousands of vacant positions. The Toronto Star reported that Canada is about 12,000 regular force soldiers short of its “full strength” of 100,000 regular force members. Women make up 16.3 per cent of the Canadian military demographic. Indigenous peoples come in at 2.7 percent. and visible minorities make up less than 12 per cent of the Canadian military. Three-quarters of its classes are white men. Recently, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced that it is changing its “antiquated recruitment process” to allow permanent residents, who have lived in Canada for 10 years, to apply. Immigration targets have soared in Canada with almost a quarter of the population aging out of the workforce by 2030. The shortage is exacerbated by Canada’s steadily rising death toll and relatively low fertility rates. In such a scenario, immigrants become prime candidates for the military as they typically arrive in Canada during their younger working years, where they are likely to be more physically active, according to immigration experts. IANS #Canada
