Military Personnel

The effectiveness of Canada's defence posture depends on its military personnel, whose service enables the country to respond to emerging threats, support allies, and protect Canadians. As such, recruitment and retention are critical challenges for armed forces and raise broader questions about civil-military relations and the role of the military in society. Changing patterns of recruitment and retention, evolving expectations about military service, and persistent challenges related to organizational culture, gender, diversity, inclusion, and representation affect not only military effectiveness but also how armed forces relate to the societies they serve. At the same time, evolving security demands are prompting governments to reconsider who contributes to defence and how, including through regular and reserve forces, defence civilians, contractors, while pursuing whole-of-society defence approaches. 

The Military Personnel theme brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners from government and academia to compare how defence organizations are responding to these challenges across different national contexts. Research focuses on four interconnected areas: 

• Recruitment and retention;  

• Total defence force coordination and integration;  

• Military culture and evolution of the military profession; and  

• Harmonization and benchmarking of military personnel practices in multinational settings.