National Defence Committee on April 15th, 2026

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

I did not say yes or no, Mr. Chair, because by policy we want to onboard or enrol people who are fluent in one of the two official languages. We may have had some mishaps in terms of testing this up front, allowing some members to be enrolled without being fluent in one of the two languages—

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

If I may, do you do medical testing before recruitment?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

Yes.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Do you do psychological testing before recruitment?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

We do.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

However, you don't do language testing.

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

We don't as of now, but as we speak, this is something we're observing. We've been enrolling permanent residents for two years now. They're going through the training pipeline, and we are observing the need for this. We are actively remediating this by sending them on course when we feel they're not fluent enough in one of the two official languages. We need to do something beforehand, absolutely, but we also need to make sure we select.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Are there plans right now to test language beforehand?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

Not as of now, no.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Is there something being planned to do that?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

Well, of course, we're planners by profession, so we will plan to rectify any problems.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

You have—

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

We're in a fact-finding mode on this particular aspect as we speak.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

I see. Okay.

What level of language proficiency is required?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

You need to be able to function in one of the two official languages, French or English, to be enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

What level of proficiency is required? I can operate in Hindi, but that doesn't mean I speak Hindi.

[Anne Rahming]

Mr. Chair, as for the point the member is making, because there's no testing at the beginning, we're talking about the policies. The policies with the Government of Canada are AAA, BBB, CBC, etc. The level of language, given that there is no screening, would be undetermined right now. We wouldn't be able to speak to it in policy. However, once people are in a position, each position has its own language profile. It depends on the region. It also depends on the profession, the trade and the level.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Okay.

You said that security risks are rooted out before operational status. Between recruitment and operational status, it can sometimes be years. I know of one second lieutenant who was a second lieutenant for 10 years beforehand.

It wasn't me, incidentally.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

In the meantime, they received the lion's share of the training, and they received an automatic weapon and ammunition for it. I'm talking about the land army.

Is this ideal? Is this the ideal way to test security?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

Mr. Chair, I would say that operational status is the very end, the maximum, which we never reach in terms of security clearance. The training that leads to operational status varies by occupation. They all have different training paths, if you will. Therefore, they need to achieve their security clearance way before operational status.

I was trying to demonstrate earlier that we would not employ operationally someone who has not had their security clearance. This is not when they need it. They need it way before in order to train.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Okay.

What specific efforts are being made to recruit indigenous personnel?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

In terms of recruiting, I discussed earlier the ILOY summer camp program. We're trying to reposition and generate new recruiting centres closer to their population. These are all initiatives we're undertaking as we speak. We have mobile recruiting centres and displays that we're trying to put together.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Are indigenous personnel involved in this?

[LGen Erick Simoneau]

Yes.