Canadian Army shakeup could turn soldiers into provincial clean-up crews, expert warns

"That's no way to build a mobilization base," says defence expert Joe Varner

Published Sep 11, 2026  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

Canadian Forces soldier Photo by Canadian Forces photo

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OTTAWA — Proposed restructuring of the Canadian Army’s 2nd Canadian Division risks undermining Canada’s military heritage and turning soldiers into little more than provincial clean-up crews, a leading defence expert warns.

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In a conversation with the Toronto Sun, Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow Joe Varner cautioned that reforming 2nd Canadian Division into Canada’s homeland security and natural disaster defence force — part of a major shakeup of the Canadian Army announced Thursday — risks hurting recruitment efforts and operational readiness.

“Armies, navies, and air forces exist to fight and win wars,” Varner said.

“You’re not going to recruit young men and women who want to serve their country in adventure to fill sandbags.”

Major reorganization

On Thursday, the army transitioned from geographically based divisions to ones that are entirely mission based.

1st Canadian Division, a historic Canadian division headquartered at CFB Edmonton, is now Canada’s primary core “manoeuvre” division, supporting international combat operations and NATO obligations.

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2nd Canadian Division, headquartered at CFB Montreal, will now be tasked with operations within Canada’s borders, including defending Arctic sovereignty, territorial defence and coordinating both primary reserve forces and the Canadian Rangers.

After nearly 40 years representing Western Canada, the army also stood down 3rd Canadian Division on Thursday, but left the remaining support and training divisions intact.

The largest tactical and administrative formations in the Canadian Army, divisions are made up of a number of brigades, which in turn consist of regiments and battalions.

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Could Canada’s historic regiments be at risk?

Under the army’s plans, 2nd Canadian Division takes oversight of domestic security, but Varner warns that tactically grouping local regiments threatens Canada’s historic regimental system.

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“Traditionally, with the exception of the First World War, Canada has used its regimental system — small local regiments like the Brockville Rifles or the Cameron Highlanders — to augment and reinforce regular forces in a time of war,” Varner said.

“It worked in World War II, it worked in Korea, it worked during the Cold War — 20% of all peacekeeping missions were reservists coming from these small regiments — and it worked in Afghanistan.”

Talk of tactically grouping units or bringing units together raises a bit of a red flag, he said.

“Many people would worry that could easily become an attack on that regimental system and that mobilization base,” Varner explained.

Combining units under shared leadership structures, he said, slashes critical positions for senior officers and non-commissioned officers needed to train incoming recruits.

“That’s no way to build a mobilization base,” Varner said.

“The thing about the reserves is you need a lot of young soldiers, and you need senior NCOs and officers to train them so that they’re ready to go when the time comes.”

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