QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of National Defence
Cost of Living
November 1, 2023
Hello, minister. Like other Canadians, the men and women of the Canadian Forces are struggling under the Trudeau government’s cost-of-living crisis. Just within the last few weeks, we’ve heard that our soldiers are asking for donations to help with food and housing costs. CAF members are increasingly choosing to leave the forces rather than relocate to an area they cannot afford or take a loss on an existing home, and the average cost to purchase or rent housing now exceeds incomes of several CAF working rank levels. Is the affordability crisis caused by the Trudeau government harming our military personnel and its readiness? It certainly looks that way.
Thank you very much for the question. Providing support to military families is one of the most important things we need to do in order to improve the retention of the talent that we have and recruit new people into our organization.
I have travelled to the bases, and at every place I go, I try to spend time with the men and women who work there to give them an opportunity, first of all, to talk about the work that they are so proud of but also about some of the challenges they are facing. And, like in many parts of the country, I am hearing clearly that Canadian Armed Forces members are struggling with access to affordable housing, and that becomes a real priority. Although we have a budget of $55 million, it is not nearly enough to respond to what I believe to be almost a 7,000-housing unit deficit for the Canadian Armed Forces.
As I have been travelling to each of those bases, I also see the local municipality and work with the mayors. I have gone to the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities. As you are aware, the government is making significant investment in housing acceleration across the country, and I want to ensure that it also deals with the housing deficit that exists for our Canadian Armed Forces members.
We have also made significant investments across the country in child care. That is another huge challenge for military families, and so we have been providing money to the provinces, but the provinces don’t necessarily see it as their responsibility to support Armed Forces members and their families. I want to make sure that that investment is reflected in the provision of those important services to Canadian Armed Forces members.
Additionally, a briefing note from military chaplains made public last month said the high cost of living, staff shortages and changes to the Post-Living Differential have resulted in “. . . many CAF leaders and members feeling more undervalued and underappreciated than at any point in recent memory.”
Minister, this is happening on the Trudeau government’s watch. What is your plan to improve such low morale?
The Post-Living Differential is money we provide to the Canadian Armed Forces to help reduce financial burdens for CAF personnel and their families. Unfortunately, the differential was given to everyone regardless of rank and income, and there have been changes made recently to ensure more support went to the lower-income members, who faced greater challenges with respect to affordability of housing. But recognizing that some of those changes would have a direct impact on serving members, we put in a differential allowance that effectively supports those members over the next three years to help continue to support them.
I honestly believe that the real answer for this is more housing. That’s the work that we’re undertaking now to identify those opportunities that do exist for our bases right across the country, to create more housing that will be affordable and accessible to more members of the service.
