Overview
- The audits reported roughly 15,000 recruits from 2022–2025 against a plan for just over 19,700, with only one in 13 of 192,000 online applicants ultimately enrolled and 54% withdrawing early.
- Security screening backlogs grew to nearly 23,000 during the audit period, and recruitment timelines often doubled the 100–150 day target.
- The Auditor General warned training capacity and instructor shortages jeopardize future throughput, risking the armed forces’ ability to meet operational demands.
- Housing inspections at bases including Esquimalt, Gagetown and Trenton found aging quarters, unsafe conditions and 227 high‑priority repairs, with only 5% completed in the sample reviewed.
- The Department of National Defence agreed to all recommendations and cited plans including $1.4 billion over 20 years for housing, active construction and acquisitions such as a 37‑unit Esquimalt building, while the CAF noted it slightly exceeded its 2024–25 enrolment target and introduced substantial pay and allowance increases.