For immediate release
June Winger issued the following statement on the need to include civilian public servants in Canada’s growing defence investments
November 6, 2026 – Ottawa, ON – ”Budget 2026 makes historic investments in Canada’s defence industry, but it leaves a critical piece of our defence capacity behind: the civilian public servants who support the Canadian Armed Forces every day.
The government has set a clear goal of more than doubling Canada’s private-sector defence workforce, from 38,000 to 89,000 jobs. UNDE supports creating good Canadian jobs and building a stronger domestic defence industry. But there is no equivalent commitment in this budget to grow the public-service workforce that supports Canada’s military.
Defence capacity is not only submarines, aircraft, infrastructure and private-sector production. It also depends on the civilian public servants who maintain bases, support operations, manage infrastructure and logistics, sustain equipment and preserve critical defence expertise.
Those two sides of Canada’s defence capacity must grow together. New equipment, infrastructure and private-sector production will not strengthen our defence if the public-service capacity needed to support those investments is allowed to erode through vacancies, attrition and contracting out.
That risk is not theoretical. For years, National Defence has left essential public-service positions vacant while increasingly turning to private contractors to perform work that skilled public servants can do safely, efficiently and accountably. UNDE members see the consequences in their workplaces: weakened internal expertise, deteriorating infrastructure, heavier workloads and reduced public-service capacity.
If the government is serious about strengthening Canada’s defence, its workforce strategy must include the public servants who make that defence system work. Every major new investment in defence should include a plan for the permanent civilian public-service capacity required to support it.
Canada cannot strengthen its defence by weakening the people who make defence work.”
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Media contact: Jonathan Gauvin – gauvinj@unde.org | 613-296-6039