Subhead:Canada currently spends 1.37% of its GDP on defence, well below agreed upon NATO targets, and plans to reach 2% over the next decade.#
The Trump administration wants NATO allies to increase defence spending following meetings on Thursday in Brussels.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declined to say whether Canada could increase military expenditures to 5 percent of GDP, as requested by the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“We do want to leave here with an understanding that we are on a pathway, a realistic pathway, to every single one of the members committing and fulfilling a promise to reach up to 5 percent of spending,” he told reporters in Belgium.
“No one expects that you’re going to be able to do this in one year or two. But the pathway has to be real.”
Canada currently spends 1.37 percent of its GDP on defence and plans to reach 2% over the next decade, to meet NATO targets.
