Attrition Rate Hits New High, Documents Show

The Canadian military is facing its worst workforce attrition rate in 15 years, reports the Ottawa Citizen.

According to a briefing prepared for Gen. Wayne Eyre, the chief of defense staff, and other senior leaders, the Canadian armed forces will need more than a decade to rebuild to needed levels.

The rate of attrition among servicemembers is a significant concern, with the post-pandemic era seeing a rate “likely 1,000 higher than forecast,” according to the document, which was obtained by the Citizen.

Several key service fields including military health, aviation technician, air operations, army telecommunications and cyber operations have dropped to critical staffing levels.

High costs of living, insufficient benefits, protocol changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing sexual misconduct crisis have all contributed to recruitment and retention issues.

While specific attrition numbers were not included in the briefing documents, it said that the military had a trained, effective force of 62,852 personnel.

The attrition rate of both regular and reserve service members from 2021-2022 was 9.3 percent, with 5,873 full-time personnel and 4,331 reservists leaving service. This was up from a rate of 6.9 percent in 2020-2021.

Eyre has developed a proposal to reconstitute the armed forces over eight years, although the briefing said that it would likely take 11 years to fully rebuild.