Government Operations Committee on Oct. 6th, 2026

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Thank you, Madame Gaudreau.

We'll go to Mr. Bragdon, please, for five minutes.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses. Thank you to the members of the Coast Guard for their service to our country and for their time, and thank you to their families.

The government has moved the Canadian Coast Guard into the Department of National Defence and is counting Coast Guard spending as part of Canada's broader defence spending. At the same time, the government's own documents make clear that the Coast Guard remains a civilian organization, with civilian vessels and civilian mandates.

If the Coast Guard remains a civilian, unarmed organization and is not part of the Canadian Armed Forces, how is its spending being counted toward military defence spending?

Mr. Wight, I'll start with you.

[Robert Wight]

I will not opine on the accounting rules for NATO because I'm not conversant in them. That's not part of my job. That's a set-aside with the CFO's office within DND. What I will say is that we now have a security mission in addition to being moved from DFO into DND. There is a security mission there that we are now responsible for. We contribute to the marine domain awareness picture for Canada, so we are, in effect, the eyes and ears on the water in Canadian waters. With 126 ships and over 30 helicopters, we contribute to that marine domain awareness picture for the security of Canada.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Currently, to my understanding the Canadian Coast Guard is still under the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. I don't know if it has been reallocated now to the Department of National Defence. Your own departmental plans say that the Coast Guard will remain a civilian special operating agency. What specifically makes its spending a defence expenditure?

[Robert Wight]

We are now part of the Department of National Defence. We've been there for over a year now and have moved out of DFO.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Then it is now....

[Robert Wight]

It is now part of the Department of National Defence as a special operating agency.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Has your mandate changed?

[Robert Wight]

The mandate has changed to include a security mandate, which was not present under DFO.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Has defence equipment or defence-related equipment such as weapons been added to the vessels, or are they being added to the vessels?

[Robert Wight]

There are no weapons, defensive or offensive, but we are in the process of looking at and have added communications equipment, and we are looking at such things as drones and other technology of the like on our ships in aid of following through on the security mission.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

You're looking at that and it hasn't been acquired, but my understanding is the Coast Guard is still operating fishing science vessels. The vessels are used to count fish. Is the government now counting those ships as military spending, as per NATO requirements?

[Robert Wight]

As mentioned before, they're under the Department of National Defence. The Coast Guard now is assessed at a 100% contribution towards the NATO targets.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

That would include, then, the vessels that are counting fish or fish survey ships as defence spending.

[Robert Wight]

It includes all assets of the Canadian Coast Guard, but I will say that all assets are multi-tasked in such things as environmental response and search and rescue, and now they are in the same way multi-tasked with a security mandate.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

All vessels under the Canadian Coast Guard are now incorporated as defence spending.

[Robert Wight]

Yes, 100% of the expenditures of the Canadian Coast Guard count towards the NATO targets, as far as I understand.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

If civilian search and rescue, icebreaking and environmental response are being carried out by the Coast Guard, are those civilian services now being counted towards Canada's defence spending targets as well?

[Robert Wight]

Yes, it's the same answer: 100% of expenditures by the Canadian Coast Guard are counted against NATO targets.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Now that they're under National Defence and you're being considered under National Defence and everything that's being spent in and through and done by the Canadian Coast Guard is considered National Defence spending, what specific changes have been made to the recruitment and retention strategy? How much additional funding has been provided to address workforce needs? I ask because that's a pretty expansive mandate and an extensive change to the original mandate. There must be a substantial need for an increased workforce and increased participation. Are efforts under way to advance and enhance recruitment?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

There's time for a very brief answer.

[Robert Wight]

The short answer is yes. I will point to the multi-year funding. In 2025-26, $129 million was given to us as part of the main estimates this year for security, to grow that capability. That goes to such things as long-range radars, drones, sensors and the people who go with those in order to fulfill our security mandate. We are growing that mandate and growing into that mandate.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Thanks, Mr. Wight.

We'll go to Ms. Fancy, please, for five minutes.

[Jessica Fancy-Landry, Liberal, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Thank you very much.

I welcome all of our witnesses here today.

I'd like to talk predominantly to Brigadier-General Ménard and Mr. Wright.

Mr. Ménard, I'm from Nova Scotia, a very coastal community, where we do a lot of work with the Coast Guard. There are some different ways we can work with the Coast Guard, similar to what my colleagues across the way were saying today, in regard to NATO spending. How can we better utilize some of the infrastructure we have within the Coast Guard to help with defence?

In terms of those questions, first, I would like to talk about Nova Scotia in particular. We're home to 7.2% of the veterans in Canada, even though we are only 2.7% of the country's total population. Many of those veterans settle in rural and coastal communities. I'm wondering how the CAF transition group makes sure that the transition planning process reflects the realities of veterans who are returning after serving to communities where things like housing, health care and other services might be limited.

[BGen Serge Ménard]

Our mandate is delivered through a network of nine transition units and 27 transition centres located on bases and wings across the country, so we are postured to deliver services close to bases. What we do, as I mentioned earlier, through the evaluation of the seven domains of well-being, is ensure that members are prepared for the transition to civilian life.

Those members can access our services through physical transition centres, but we also have digital transition centres to provide services similar to those they would have through a physical transition centre. Through an online entry point, they can get information on the services available. That allows members and families to request or book a consultation with a transition adviser. They can register for transition events to access transition education and training, as an example. Through that online tool, they also have access to military-to-civilian skills and occupational tools and can access the national resource directory, which can support members and is divided into the seven domains of well-being.