Military Recruitment of Permanent Residents

CBC News reports that since 2022 when the federal government opened up military recruitment to Permanent Residents (PR) to help address a critical shortfall in personnel, estimated at about 16,000 (16 per cent of the 100,000 regular and reserve forces that are said to be needed.) Out of 21,000 people who applied only 77 were accepted in the one year period from November 2022 to November 2023.

Brig.-Gen Krista Brodie, the commander overseeing military recruitment, said that PR applicants are told that it can take 18 to 24 months for security agencies to handle their files because they can require additional security screening. Canadian citizens usually get approved in about three months.

Defence Minister Blair says the process is taking too long and that he has asked his department to look at allowing permanent residents to serve on a probationary basis while they wait for their security checks to be completed. An incentive for permanent residents to apply was the announcement in 2022 that citizenship applications from Canadian Armed Forces members would be processed on a "priority basis."

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This article was published in

Volume 54 Number 14 - February 28, 2024

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS541412.HTM

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