Jamie Sarkonak: Non-citizens in Canadian Forces struggling to ‘treat women as their peers’

Photo by Darren Makowichuk / Postmedia

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Canada’s experiment in recruiting non-citizens to the military while lowering entrance standards has been wrought with problems, if a January internal report is anything to go by.

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Recruits have been failing at greater rates since changes to recruitment practices were made in late 2024, according to the document, which was obtained by the Post last weekend. Instructors are also having to deal with cultural clashes, illiteracy problems, and a lack of respect for female officers, among other problems.

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The document, first covered by Juno News, is under the letterhead of the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School (CFLRS), which is one of the country’s centres for basic military training. On Wednesday, Department of National Defence spokesperson Commodore Pascal Belhumeur did not confirm that the Post’s copy was the same as his own version, but the contents of his copy were consistent with what was before the Post, based on our discussion.

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The report, authored by Lieutenant-Colonel Marc Kieley, describes the effects of new changes to the Canadian Armed Forces recruitment process: restrictions on candidates with certain health and mental health issues were lifted, more permanent residents were permitted to join, security screening was reduced, and the old aptitude test was dropped.

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“As a result of these changes, CFLRS is experiencing significant changes in candidates’ basic capabilities and increasing pressures on staff and instructors,” it reads.

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Permanent residents were permitted to join the armed forces in 2022, but with tight restrictions; these were loosened in 2024, yielding nearly 800 recruits in the months that followed the change. Belhumeur said that last year, 1,400 permanent residents were recruited.

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The report states that among permanent resident candidates, instructors have observed poor English and French skills, and problems getting along with women: “For many candidates it is the first time that they have lived with members of a different sex, and for some it is also the first time they have been expected to treat women as their peers.”

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“Older candidates from certain cultural backgrounds are also more likely to experience friction when responding to younger CFLRS instructors due to cultural hierarchies based on age.”

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Surveys of people in basic training included complaints of “inter-candidate cultural frustrations,” with a lack of respect for women being the leading concern.

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Belhumeur said that “that sort of behaviour is absolutely not tolerated in the Canadian Armed Forces” and that members who engage in such behaviour are removed “if it comes up.” He pointed to the higher attrition rate as a marker that these mechanisms are working properly. Language requirements have also been raised, he said.

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The overall rate of completion for basic training dropped from around 85 per cent to 77 per cent in the first three quarters of 2025, said the report. More candidates are also being ordered to repeat a course: between the fiscal years of 2018 and 2024, this was always in the single digits, ranging between four and eight per cent. In 2025, it was 15 per cent, nearly double the year prior.