National Defence Committee on April 15th, 2026

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

It would be interesting to find out. If you want to make sure that you have proper representation.... We talk about how francophones, as a percentage of Canadians, are 21%, and within the CAF, they are 24%. We know those numbers. We should have those numbers as well for the indigenous communities, whether first nation, Inuit or Métis.

Let's talk about the aggregate. You said you have numbers. How many are in the Rangers? How many are in the army, at least in the reg force and reserve force? If you have it by service as well, that would be phenomenal.

[Anne Rahming]

Through you, Mr. Chair, I have a breakdown that I can give you for 2026.

The percentage for reg force is 2.9%. For reservists, it's 2.4%. We have a breakout of 2.5% for COATS—the cadets. The Canadian Rangers, as I mentioned earlier, are at 27.7% at present.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

For the rangers, you mentioned that it was not big enough. We need more. How much bigger are we going to make them?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

Mr. Chair, I don't have the exact numbers, since we are determining things as we speak. We're planning how to own more of the north. The policy is called “Our North, Strong and Free”. We are developing plans to grow the forces and put the focus on the defence of Canada first, as well as on the importance of the north.

I don't have an exact number, nor do I understand the pool capacity we can draw from. This is exactly why I'm opening a recruiting centre in Yellowknife, for example. We need to move closer in order to understand capacity and their willingness to be part of it. I'm not doubting this. I'm sure they're very interested. We just need to understand this, and at what level.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

The current ranger cadre is at near full strength, is it not?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

I don't think there's a maximum strength for the rangers, for example. We would welcome it if more came to our door. We don't need to wait to have the final number in order to implement a plan to onboard more, because it's all part of the growth of the armed forces, which we're doing right now.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

We know that 27% of rangers are first nations, Inuit or Métis.

What are you doing on the recruitment side to provide a greater percentage within the reg force, whether it's army, navy or air force? Are we targeting communities?

Yellowknife has one centre, but there are three territories up there, and it's a big space. We should be in every capital city in those territories.

What about getting into first nations and Métis communities throughout the rest of Canada?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

Mr. Chair, I don't think we're doing enough. This is the first salvo in a broader plan we're developing as we speak.

Starting this year, we're going to be implementing things in Yellowknife, as I mentioned, as well as Grande Prairie, Prince George, Red Deer, Saskatoon, Rouyn and Bathurst. We are looking at all locations by proximity so that we can be closer to them in order to gauge, influence and attract more first nations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you.

Ms. Romanado, it's over to you.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the witnesses for joining us today and for their service.

My first question concerns recruitment. Do Canadian Armed Forces recruiters need to be bilingual in order to answer questions in both official languages?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

I would say yes, especially in recruiting centres in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick. Is this currently the case? No, it isn't. I don't have enough francophones. I can't ask all the francophone members of the forces—or 24% of the members—to serve at recruiting centres. I need them throughout the chain of command to supervise people in their first language.

Ideally, we're trying to achieve an all‑Canadian compromise. We want one bilingual member per recruiting centre for every shift, even when we open our doors during the holiday season between Christmas and New Year's Day. That's when people have the time to visit us. We make it a point to ensure that a bilingual person works in every recruiting centre during these peak periods. Otherwise, we miss out on opportunities. For example, when I started working at the Quebec City recruiting centre on Saint‑Jean Street, I could speak only French. I couldn't work in English at all. I'm still struggling, as you can see. However, the first person whom people encounter must be able to speak to them in their first language.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Good.

A few years ago, when my sons were attending the Royal Military College Saint‑Jean, the students spent half the month in English and the other half in French. That way, everyone could be bilingual after graduation. Is this still the case?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

I can't answer that. However, I imagine that we wouldn't have stopped that type of good practice.

I can tell you that, during the weekly meetings with the chief of the defence staff, we alternate between English and French. It was difficult at first, especially for the anglophones. The issue wasn't their lack of bilingualism, but the fact that the language contains many technical terms. Even for the francophones, it was challenging at first to hold the briefings in French. Now we're getting the hang of it and adapting the technical vocabulary so that we can use it in both languages. This type of initiative will make it possible to improve the institution as a whole. It plays an integral role in implementing the modernization of the Official Languages Act. It starts at the top, with the chief of the defence staff.

In my own command, I hold two meetings a week. My assistant, the chief warrant officer and I are all francophones, so over 50% of our meetings are held in French. This isn't done at the expense of English speakers. It's done at their request. They often tell us that they don't have the opportunity to speak in French because we speak to them in English all the time and that they would like us to speak to them in French. So I speak to them in French until I see them looking puzzled or they stop keeping up with me. At that point, we switch to English. However, we really want to make this happen as a team.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

I know that, in 2021, we started offering university degrees at the Royal Military College. This gave francophone members of the armed forces the opportunity to obtain a university degree in French. We had been working on this since 2015.

It's posting season. I spoke with francophone Canadian Armed Forces members posted to bases outside Quebec who faced difficulties obtaining services in French. What support do they have? What about their families, who may also need to move to an English‑speaking city where no services are available in French?

Is this taken into account in the posting process?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

I'll answer this question in two parts.

First, let me start with families. We don't talk enough about families. Personally, I call them “the backbone of the forces”. Their real strength makes it possible to serve and to focus on a mission when deployed. If deminers who must touch a bomb have issues on their minds and family challenges, they won't be able to focus. Nothing good can come of this. So family is extremely important.

From a language standpoint, there are three aspects. My first posting outside Valcartier was in Kingston. At that point, I had become bilingual and I could work in English. In order to take the basic flying course, I needed to take a technical vocabulary course to ensure that I wouldn't pose a risk to the public in the air in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. As a result, I quickly became bilingual, or at least I could work in English.

However, my family hasn't had this benefit. Spousal employment presents challenges. Child care also poses challenges. When you arrive in an anglophone environment with young francophone children and no francophone day care, it poses challenges. Access to health care is another issue. Health care services in other provinces aren't necessarily provided in both official languages. This poses challenges. As a result, families often become single‑income families. They have only one income because the spouse must remain at home to make up for all these shortcomings.

Ms. Romanado, I know that you're personally working tirelessly with Canada to try to open doors for us in this area. I want to formally thank you for this.

On the military side, we aren't perfect either. As we heard earlier, we still have anglophones supervising francophones. The anglophones are unable to speak to francophones in their language, and vice versa. However, the solution isn't to keep francophones in Quebec, New Brunswick or French‑speaking areas. Francophones are everywhere, and they must have access to supervision in their first language. I need to distribute the supervision to all the provinces and to all deployed missions. It wouldn't be effective and it wouldn't be fair to francophones to keep them all in Quebec. That's where second‑language education and training really start to matter to me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you.

Monsieur Savard-Tremblay, it's over to you.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

How much time do I have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

You have two and a half minutes plus.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

Thank you for that nice answer.

Mr. Simoneau or Mr. Gros‑Jean, one of you, I can't remember who, spoke earlier about a modernization operation in 2025. I imagine that this is the same operation that we heard about back then. The idea is to centralize things a bit more and to take responsibility for a number of aspects of human, material and other resources.

We know that only one division is officially francophone. That division is the 2nd Division, in Quebec. In light of this, has its mandate remained the same, or has it been centralized or changed? Has anything happened as a result of this operation?

[MGen Martin Gros-Jean]

I think that you're talking about the modernization of official languages.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

No. I'm talking about the forces.

[MGen Martin Gros-Jean]

Okay. You're talking about the army. In that case, I can't answer that question.

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

I can try to answer the question.

I'm not the army commander, but he briefed me. I can tell you that the divisional level will remain. The army commander is currently transforming the structure of this level. He wants the divisions to become specialized. This means that one division will be responsible for expeditionary operations, another for domestic operations and a third for logistical support.

For the 2nd Division in Quebec, this means that it will become responsible for force employment within the country. Will that change?

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

It won't just be in Quebec. So it's becoming—

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

No. It can operate across Canada.