With defence spending on the rise around the world, Canada is no exception. A couple of weeks ago, Mark Carney announced an increase to Canada’s military budget, aiming to meet NATO’s original target of spending 2% of GDP on defence.
NATO’s newest target for member nations now stands as high as 5% of GDP, though there are some caveats. Portions of that spending can go toward infrastructure with potential dual-use for military applications (think cybersecurity, or larger bridges capable of supporting tank transport).
A mid-June survey from Abacus Data found that 76% of Canadians support raising defence spending to 2% of GDP, with support above 70% across all major parties. Opposition is minimal, while only 11% of Canadians oppose the idea.
That level of support is higher than in a separate survey conducted by Angus Reid in early June, which found that 50% of Canadians would increase defence spending to 2% if they had unilateral control of the federal budget. An additional 17% said they would increase it even further, bringing the total to 67%, still 9 points short of the Abacus figure.
Regardless of the discrepancy, a clear majority of Canadians believe the country should spend more on defence in the face of growing global threats.
For many, those threats lie just across the border.
