Canadian Forces Transformation and Canadas Way of War in the Twenty-First Century

Canada's unique "way of war" is a product of Canadian history, geography, and political traditions. By contributing forces to larger coalitions, Canada is able to achieve security for a lower cost by relying on others to underwrite its national security. This level of security makes it possible for the Government to look inward to higher priority domestic issues. Doing so requires less focus and funding for drastic military capability development. This fact, coupled with a reduction of forces, drives a common narrative of a declining Canadian Armed Forces. In reality, the reduction of military forces is a matter of deliberate political choice driven by current global and domestic contexts and entirely consistent with Canada's way of war. Throughout its history, the Canadian Armed Forces has consistently evolved in order to achieve assigned missions. Canadian Forces Transformation initiated in 2005 is the most recent example of this ongoing evolution, and has ensured the Canadian Armed Forces is prepared to succeed in the twenty-first century in a manner consistent with Canada's traditional way of war.