Canadian Armed Forces are short
of 20,000 manpower
TORONTO: Though there are some Canadian-born soldiers of Indian origin in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), there is now a big opportunity for young Indian immigrants to wear the military uniform in this country.
The Canadian Armed Forces are currently at all-time low in manpower even as their emoluments and perks are among the best in the world. In order to fill these vacancies, they have lowered the standards of entrance and medical tests to attract new recruits.
Because of its geographical location and defence guarantees from the US (under NATO), Canada never paid much attention to its defence forces. But in view of new threats emerging from Russia and China, this country has to ensure to keep its forces at the maximum level. Moreover, there is pressure from US and other NATO members on Canada to accord priority to its neglected defence forces by dedicating at least two per cent of its GDP to them.
So almost after years of neglect to upgrade its military hardware, aircraft, ships and submarines, Canada has now realized that it has a deficiency of military manpower to the tune of approximately 20,000 personnel. There is some sense of urgency to upgrade the armed forces.
But where can the new manpower for the Canadian Armed Forces come from?
In my opinion, this offers an opportunity for international students from India awaiting permanent residency in Canada to consider the armed forces as a career. They pay well, have a number of perks, sponsor further studies, and have good pension schemes. Such emoluments must attract the Indian-origin youth in Canada.
The Canadian constitution has a provision that, in order to fill up deficiencies of manpower in their forces, they can offer recruitment to desirous non-permanent residents too in exchange for early grant of PR and later citizenship. If accepted, it will be win-win for Indian students and the Canadian Armed Forces.
But adequate information on the recruitment system is not available to the Indian youth residing in Canada.
To fill this gap, our organization – the Veteran Association of Ontario – has undertaken the task to help the Indian-origin youth in Canada to learn about their armed forces, their recruitment system and motivate them to consider joining them in large numbers to exploit the current opportunity.
This will help them get employment with respect and many of them can pursue higher studies with the support of the Canadian Government. They will have better acceptance in Canadian society and make them better Canadians.
Through this article, I urge all our readers to please spread word among the eligible youth to consider joining the Canadian Armed Forces. If anyone needs some guidance, they can contact our organization. We will be pleased to guide them through the recruitment process.
The recruitment of Indian-origin youth in the Canadian Armed Forces will help foster better people-to-people relations between India and Canada which are currently not enjoying the best of relations. We hope our two well-established democracies will soon have a very robust relationship as in the past.
Indian recruits will also add to the diversity of the Canadian Armed Forces which currently have only 12 percent personnel from visible minorities.
To go back in time, our association with the Canadian Armed Forces goes back to the First World War when many Sikh soldiers fought for Canada. Buckam Singh, along with nine other Sikhs, was one of them who won the Victoria Medal. His grave is in Kitchener.
Sikh soldiers also earned laurels during World War II while fighting for Canada and the Allied Forces. That’s why many Canadian war veterans hold Indian troops in high regard for their valour.
We have a great opportunity to keep our soldiering tradition alive in Canada and thus become a more integral part of Canadian society.
