National Defence Committee on Feb. 9th, 2017

[Sven Spengemann, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

Again, you may not have the numbers, but to what extent is prior career experience a factor in terms of what somebody would seek out within the naval reserve? If they're engineers, if they're machinists, if they already have a skill set, is that a great factor in terms of making a decision to join the naval reserve, or is it less so?

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

It's an interesting question, because the answers can be at completely opposite ends of the spectrum. Some people join because they have an interest—for example, a Red Seal cook might want to be a naval cook. On the other hand, we have people who join the navy and do not want to do what they do in their civilian careers. They specifically want a different job and work experience through the navy that isn't what they do in the rest of their lives.

[Sven Spengemann, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

For the benefit of the committee and Canadians, could you take us through the process? If somebody were to walk into a recruitment centre, what would be the steps until they were ultimately deployed at sea or elsewhere overseas?

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

To your question, I will open by broadly describing what the recruitment process is right now. Then I'll ask my deputy to address it, because he's actually been shepherding a change in the process just over the last few months.

We have been working at two different levels of changing our recruiting. At the Canadian Armed Forces level, which I alluded to before, there are our own internal changes. More recently, however, the chief of the defence staff also directed that the enrolment of reservists should be made very efficient, so that reservists for the army and navy would be able to be enrolled within 21 days. That change is fully supported by the commander of the army and the commander of the navy. That has just started to be implemented this year, and we hope it will bear fruit very soon.

For the process itself, I'll turn the floor over to the deputy.

[Sven Spengemann, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

Sure. I think that would be helpful to us.

[Captain, N) Chris Ross (Deputy Commander, Naval Reserve, Royal Canadian Navy, Department of National Defence]

The expedited PRes, or primary reserve enrolment, is the program that is under way right now. It was initially going to be a trial just in the Atlantic region. The chief of the defence staff said no, he was happy to roll this out as a program across the country.

What we have done—by “we” I mean primarily the Canadian Army, the army reserve, and the naval reserve—is we have found steps in the process that can be expedited.

Let's say somebody comes into the naval reserve division, talks to a recruiter, and at some point submits their paperwork. Maybe it's that night or maybe it's on another visit. As soon as they submit their paperwork, they will do a fitness test. If they pass the fitness test, then their paperwork is submitted. They will begin the process that primarily includes CFAT testing, or aptitude testing, which will assist in the placement of where they go in the system. They will also begin the medical process, which right now is one of the most time-consuming steps in that process. We've found efficiencies there. At the same time, they will begin the security process to get to what we call “reliability screening”.

Those processes will go on. At a certain point—the goal is within 21 days—we will have enough information so that we are comfortable to enrol somebody.

Before they are enrolled, there may still be a final step to go through. For instance, in the medical process there may still be a final hurdle for them to overcome. The key, however, is to get them in and get them training so that they're not waiting for what predominantly was months before we could get them in.

Once they're in, the model is that they essentially have two or three summers in which to reach what we call “occupational functional point”. The first summer is recruit training. We teach them the basics of how to be a sailor. The second summer is when we begin the occupational training. Officers have an extra year in there, so they have an extra summer.

The goal is to reach occupational function point within two years for an NCM and within three years for an officer.

[Sven Spengemann, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you.

I think that's my time, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

It is.

Go ahead, Mr. Gerretsen.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Thank you very much.

How long does that take, Captain Ross? Is it 21 days?

[Capt(N) Chris Ross]

The goal is 21 days.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

What realistically is the...?

[Capt(N) Chris Ross]

To be quite honest, we've just started it. Realistically, there is no reason.... We are very confident that in 21 days, give or take, we can get them in. It's not a hard and fast number, and it doesn't end at 21 days. We are just beginning the process now. Over the coming months we will be collecting that data and refining the process as we go.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Maybe we can get an update later on as to how effective it is—

[Capt(N) Chris Ross]

Absolutely.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

—because this is a huge improvement from some of the other things we've been hearing from some of the other reservists.

Going back to the number of reservists, would you say the decline has been through attrition or would you say people are making a conscious decision en masse, so to speak, that they no longer want to be involved?

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

The attrition over the last 10 years was touched on briefly. There were, I think, a number of different triggers along the way, but one significant trigger at one point was the introduction of the reserve force pension, which allowed a whole lot of people to make the decision that now was a good time to component transfer to the regular force. There were a series of one-offs, year-by-year triggers for perhaps higher-than-normal levels of attrition. However, we have stabilized over the last few years.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

With regard to the ability to attract new reservists, you talked about how people need to feel motivated and have meaningful employment. I interpreted that to mean that maybe that component has been lacking. Did I interpret that incorrectly? Is there improvement there?

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

Certainly we feel that the shift from the Kingston-class mission, which we had been doing for the last 20 years, to being able to participate in the full range of naval activities is quite a motivator.

All of us came up through the Kingston-class era and have benefited immensely, and we very much enjoyed our experiences going to sea on those constabulary missions in the coastal defence role, but in addition to that, which will certainly continue, reservists have more options in front of them now in support of the naval output as well. We are assisting the navy in meeting its broader missions.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

To go back to the decline in strength, you said there were a number of factors and you rearticulated one of them. What are some of the other factors that have contributed to the decline?

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

In the past it was sometimes concern about the capacity in the training system. That has been rectified at this point. Other times it was purely budget questions. There were different reasons throughout the years, but as I said, it has been fairly stable over the last couple of years. Now, with the mandate for growth from the chief of the defence staff as well as the reorientation in our mission itself, we expect that we're going to turn the curve around and move from not just stable numbers but to growth again.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

What's the benchmark in numbers?

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

We're starting from the 3,100 that we're at right now, if that's what you're—

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

What's success?

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

Success will certainly be to meet the chief's target, which is to be up to 3,300 in strength by 2019.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Okay.

I think that's it. Leona, do you have anything else, or is there anybody else?

Go ahead.