Canada’s Dual-Use Military

And why it won’t happen in the United States

by Bruce O’Hara

October 17, 2024

With Canada having only ten-percent of America’s population, and per capita military spending two-thirds lower, Canada’s military is very modest in size. Yet, in one very important way, Canada’s military is more useful, and more effective, than America’s.

Americans may have seen news-clips of the huge fire that burned through a third of the town of Jasper, Alberta, last July. Perhaps those news stories even showed Canadian Forces personnel fighting fires, rescuing the stranded, or supervising the evacuation process.

What Americans may not understand, is that this was not a one-off response to a national emergency.

Disaster relief is a key mandated purpose for Canada’s military. Forces personnel get extensive training in how to respond to all manner of natural disasters and industrial accidents. The military keeps all the supplies and tools needed to respond to such events on hand. Though the military are only called in for disasters which are beyond the capabilities of local authorities, Canadian Forces are expected to respond at top speed whenever they are needed.

Based on how I’ve seen Canada’s military respond to multiple natural disasters over the years, I would have no hesitation in laying out the following assessment.

If Hurricane Helene had happened on Canadian soil, military scouting teams would have been airlifted in within 24 hours, and disaster response units at several Canadian bases would have made themselves ready for instant deployment. As soon as the scouting teams realized how devastating Helene had been, those units would have been rushed in.

Within a day or two, mobile hospitals and kitchens would have been in place. Shelters would be going up. Roadwork repair on key highways would have begun. A large number of portable generators and water purifiers would have assisted local medical and law enforcement personnel in returning to service.

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