Canada rolls out biggest military pay raise in a generation, aiming to boost recruitment and retention
Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, revealed a significant pay raise for the Canadian Armed Forces. The salary boost aims to bridge the gap between service demands and compensation. Lower ranks will benefit most, with starting salaries increasing by 20 percent. The package includes new bonuses and allowances. This move addresses recruitment challenges and supports NATO defense spending goals.
AP
Biggest military pay boost in decades aims to fix recruitment crisis and meet NATO goals
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday(August 8) announced a sweeping pay and benefits overhaul for the Canadian Armed Forces, calling it the most significant compensation boost in nearly three decades and a critical step toward strengthening the military.
Standing alongside uniformed personnel at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Carney said the raises will help close a gap between the demands on service members and the pay they receive.
'These are the men and women we trust to wear the Maple Leaf, the Canadian flag, and to risk their lives for it,' Carney said. 'Your pay should reflect the weight of your responsibilities.'The new plan will see lower ranks benefit the most. Starting salaries for privates, sailors and aviators in the regular force will jump 20 percent, from $43,368 to $52,044, retroactive to April 1. Lieutenant-colonels and below will see a 13 percent raise, while colonels and above will receive 8 percent.Officials estimate the changes, which also include a series of new allowances and bonuses, will cost $2 billion annually.
The package introduces a new Military Service Pay, an annual, pensionable bonus based on years of service, ranging from $2,000 for those serving 5-10 years to $6,000 for members with over 20 years.Members responding to domestic natural disasters will receive $45 a day, while those deployed in the Arctic will get higher land and sea duty allowances. Environmental allowances for adverse conditions will move to a flat $100 per day.To address shortages in critical trades, including vehicle technicians, dental technicians and ship engineers, the military will offer up to $50,000 in targeted bonuses: $10,000 after basic training, plus $20,000 each upon trade qualification and contract completion.Relocation benefits are also being revamped. Instead of allowances tied to rank, members will get $13,500 for each of their first three moves, climbing to $27,000 for the seventh and beyond. Those posted away from their families will receive new food, transportation and incidentals allowances.The Canadian Armed Forces has been struggling to fill roughly 40 percent of its occupations, a shortage that impacts readiness. Officials say the new pay and benefits will make the military more competitive in attracting and keeping talent.The move also supports Carney's pledge to meet NATO's defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP this fiscal year and a new alliance goal of 5 percent by 2035. That includes 3.5 percent for core military capabilities and 1.5 percent for related infrastructure and investments.'At the core of our defense investment are the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces,' Carney said. 'We're making up for years of underinvestment in people.'
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Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Iran threatens planned Trump corridor envisaged by Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal
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He said military exercises carried out in northwest Iran demonstrated the Islamic Republic's readiness and determination to prevent any geopolitical changes. 'This corridor will not become a passage owned by Trump, but rather a graveyard for Trump's mercenaries,' Velayati said. Iran's foreign ministry earlier welcomed the agreement 'as an important step toward lasting regional peace', but warned against any foreign intervention near its borders that could 'undermine the region's security and lasting stability'. Analysts and insiders say that Iran, under mounting US pressure over its disputed nuclear programme and the aftermath of a 12-day war with Israel in June, lacks the military power to block the corridor. Trump welcomed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the White House on Friday and witnessed their signing of a joint declaration aimed at drawing a line under their decades-long on-off conflict. Russia, a traditional broker and ally of Armenia in the strategically important South Caucasus region which is crisscrossed with oil and gas pipelines, was not included, despite its border guards being stationed on the border between Armenia and Iran. While Moscow said it supported the summit, it proposed 'implementing solutions developed by the countries of the region themselves with the support of their immediate neighbours – Russia, Iran and Turkey' to avoid what it called the 'sad experience' of Western efforts to mediate in the Middle East. Azerbaijan's close ally, NATO member Turkey, welcomed the accord. Baku and Yerevan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting almost all of the territory's 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia. 'The chapter of enmity is closed and now we're moving towards lasting peace,' said Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijan's ambassador to Britain, predicting that the wider region's prosperity and transport links would be transformed for the better. 'This is a paradigm shift,' said Suleymanov, who as a former envoy to Washington who used to work in President Aliyev's office, is one of his country's most senior diplomats. Suleymanov declined to speculate on when a final peace deal would be signed however, noting that Aliyev had said he wanted it to happen soon. There remained only one obstacle, said Suleymanov, which was for Armenia to amend its constitution to remove a reference to Nagorno-Karabakh. 'Azerbaijan is ready to sign any time once Armenia fulfils the very basic commitment of removing its territorial claim against Azerbaijan in its constitution,' he said. Pashinyan this year called for a referendum to change the constitution, but no date for it has been set yet. Armenia is to hold parliamentary elections in June 2026, and the new constitution is expected to be drafted before the vote. The Armenian leader said on X that the Washington summit had paved the way to end the decades of conflict and open transport connections that would unlock strategic economic opportunities. Asked when the transit rail route would start running, Suleymanov said that would depend on cooperation between the US and Armenia whom he said were already in talks. Joshua Kucera, Senior South Caucasus analyst at International Crisis Group, said Trump may not have got the easy win he had hoped for as the agreements left many questions unanswered. The issue of Armenia's constitution continued to threaten to derail the process, and it was not clear how the new transport corridor would work in practice. 'Key details are missing, including about how customs checks and security will work and the nature of Armenia's reciprocal access to Azerbaijani territory. These could be serious stumbling blocks,' said Kucera. Suleymanov played down suggestions that Russia, which still has extensive security and economic interests in Armenia, was being disadvantaged. 'Anybody and everybody can benefit from this if they choose to,' he said.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
London police arrest 365 people as pro-Palestinian protesters defy new law
Police officers patrol during demonstrator during a protest in support of the Palestinian People in Gaza, in Parliament Square, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) A woman is led away by police officers as supporters of Palestine Action take part in a mass action in Parliament Square, organised by Defend Our Juries as part of the Lift the Ban campaign, to end the proscription of Palestine Action, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP) Demonstrators hold placards during a protest in support of the Palestinian People in Gaza, in Parliament Square, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Police officers arrest a demonstrator during a protest in support of the Palestinian People in Gaza, in Parliament Square, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Police officers line up before a demonstration in support of the Palestinian People in Gaza, in Parliament Square, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Police officers patrol during demonstrator during a protest in support of the Palestinian People in Gaza, in Parliament Square, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) A woman is led away by police officers as supporters of Palestine Action take part in a mass action in Parliament Square, organised by Defend Our Juries as part of the Lift the Ban campaign, to end the proscription of Palestine Action, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP) Demonstrators hold placards during a protest in support of the Palestinian People in Gaza, in Parliament Square, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Police officers arrest a demonstrator during a protest in support of the Palestinian People in Gaza, in Parliament Square, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Police officers line up before a demonstration in support of the Palestinian People in Gaza, in Parliament Square, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Police officers patrol during demonstrator during a protest in support of the Palestinian People in Gaza, in Parliament Square, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) 1 2 3 4 5 LONDON: British police said they arrested 365 people in central London on Saturday as supporters of a recently banned pro-Palestinian group intentionally flouted the law as part of their effort to force the government to reconsider the ban. Parliament in early July passed a law banning Palestine Action and making it a crime to publicly support the organization. That came after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and vandalized two tanker planes to protest against Britain's support for Israel's offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Backers of the group, who have held a series of protests around the U.K. over the past month, argue that the law illegally restricts freedom of expression. Daring police to arrest them More than 500 protesters filled the square outside the Houses of Parliament on Saturday, many daring police to arrest them by displaying signs reading "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action." That was enough for police to step in. But as the demonstration began to wind down, police and protest organizers sparred over the number of arrests as the organizers sought to show that the law was unworkable. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Paul Gascoigne's Actual House Left Us With No Words - Take A Look Ohi Blog Undo "The police have only been able to arrest a fraction of those supposedly committing 'terrorism' offenses, and most of those have been given street bail and allowed to go home," Defend Our Juries, which organized the protest, said in a statement. "This is a major embarrassment to (the government), further undermining the credibility of this widely ridiculed law, brought in to punish those exposing the government's own crimes. " London's Metropolitan Police Service quickly hit back, saying this wasn't true and that many of those who gathered in the square were onlookers, media or people who didn't hold placards supporting the group. "We are confident that anyone who came to Parliament Square today to hold a placard expressing support for Palestine Action was either arrested or is in the process of being arrested," the police force said in a statement. On Friday, police said the demonstration was unusual in that the protesters wanted to be arrested in large numbers so as to place a strain on police and the broader criminal justice system. Why the group is being banned The government moved to ban Palestine Action after the activists broke into a British air force base in southern England on June 20 to protest British military support for the Israel-Hamas war. The activists sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes at the RAF Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire and caused further damage with crowbars. Palestine Action had previously targeted Israeli defense contractors and other sites in the United Kingdom that they believe have links with the Israeli military. 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Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Michigan Governor Whitmer urges Donald Trump to ease tariffs; auto jobs under threat; automaker fears rising cost
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer met privately with President Donald Trump this week to deliver a message she knew he might resist: his tariffs are hurting the state's automotive industry, threatening jobs and profits in a sector central to Michigan's economy. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The Democrat brought a slide presentation to the Oval Office meeting on Tuesday, highlighting how Trump's import taxes could cause severe economic damage in a state that helped elect him in 2024. It was Whitmer's third White House meeting since Trump returned to office in January, but unlike her more public visit in April, this one was behind closed doors. According to people familiar with the talks, Whitmer also raised the need for federal support after an ice storm and asked to delay Medicaid changes, reported AP. Trump made no specific commitments. Under Trump's trade measures, US automakers face a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum, 30% on parts from China, and up to 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico not covered by a 2020 trade deal. Meanwhile, German, Japanese and South Korean vehicles pay only a 15% import tax under new agreements. Trump has also threatened a 100% tariff on imported computer chips, key to modern vehicle production, exempting only domestic producers. Whitmer's presentation, obtained by The Associated Press, showed that trade with Canada and Mexico has driven $23.2 billion in investment to Michigan since 2020. General Motors, Ford and Stellantis run 50 factories in the state, supported by over 4,000 parts suppliers, together employing nearly 600,000 workers. Automakers have repeatedly warned the administration that the tariffs will cut profits and hurt global competitiveness. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Ford said tariffs cost it $800 million in the second quarter alone, while GM reported $1.1 billion in related expenses. Both say these costs could limit investment in new US factories. Since Trump took office in January, Michigan has lost 7,500 manufacturing jobs, federal data show. Smaller suppliers, such as Detroit Axle, have also felt the strain. Owner Mike Musheinesh said the market has shifted from growth to mere survival, though his company recently avoided closing a warehouse and laying off over 100 workers. Matt Grossman, a political science professor at Michigan State University, said the meeting underscored Whitmer's unique position among Democratic governors, balancing state interests with political opposition to Trump's agenda. 'Everyone's aware Michigan is a critical swing state and the auto industry has outsized influence,' he said.
