Mr. Chairman, as is indicated in our report on plans and priorities, part III, which is of course the main subject of our discussion tonight, while we can deal with the specific figures and how we are spending the money, it is important to focus on the programs that are part of our plans and priorities in part III of the estimates.
Recruitment and retention is a key priority. We have entered into a new three year recruiting program. I am pleased to say that we have passed our overall recruitment numbers this year of 10,000 which was our goal. It much exceeded the previous year's target. We now have our force strength numbers back up to over 60,000. In addition to that, our retention rate is higher and our attrition rate has gone down by 20%. We are beginning to find the kind of formula that is necessary to keep troops as well as to attract people into the operation.
As the hon. member has pointed out, it is quite true that there are some deficiencies. We may have made our overall 10,000 recruitment target, we may have our attrition rate down and we may have our numbers up over 60,000, but there are still a number of occupational categories where we are coming up short. She mentioned pilots. That situation is getting better now but at one time that was one of our main preoccupations and we put in place a bonus system to help keep people. That is helping to accomplish this.
We also have a challenge with respect to doctors. We are looking for ways of helping to pay for their education and at the same time ensure that they not only put in time with the Canadian forces in providing medical services, but that they can also do so in the community. With the Canadian forces we cannot get the wide range of experience that the medical profession needs. To keep up to date, they need to work in the civilian community as well. We have been able to provide changes in terms of service for engagement of physicians and other people in the medical profession that will help to bring them in and to retain them.
We are looking at a wide range of areas in the technical trades where we need more people, for example a number of them in the aviation area and a number relevant to computer technology. We need plumbers too. We need quite a number of people in these different occupations. We are going out and looking at ways of attracting them. We go to community colleges. We might help pay for their education, or bring them in when they have received an education in other cases or perhaps start them out higher in the ranks. We are looking at different things that will help attract them because there is a great deal of competition in the private sector.
As the government has pulled the unemployment rate down, created more jobs and helped the private sector to create more jobs, the competition has also become a little tougher. We need the right combination of work experience, challenges and remuneration that will attract people and retain them.
There are still many people out there I am very happy to report that do want the kind of challenge they would face with the Canadian forces, the kind of adventure that is involved and the kind of service to one's country. We will continue to find that right formula to both recruit and retain.
I am very pleased to say that our numbers are back up over 60,000. We are having success but we still have some areas of occupation to which we will continue to give more attention. As an hon. member from the NDP pointed out previously and quite correctly so, as long as we are short in those areas, we put more stress on the fewer number of people who we have in those occupations in the forces. We are anxious to relieve that stress and to add people to these various categories of employment.