Canadian Military’s Immigrant Experiment Serves as Warning to Europe

Canada’s government last year changed its requirements for enlisting in the armed forces, implementing a program for immigrants with legal residency to join the country’s military. A leaked internal report revealed that one French-language platoon, composed of 83% non-citizens, suffered from serious cohesion problems, including poor French fluency, a lack of respect toward female Canadian Armed Forces members, and infighting between cadets from Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire.

Some of the platoons trained in 2025 were made up of candidates with as little as three months residency in Canada, leading to a significant culture shock as candidates had not yet acclimatized to Canadian society, let alone Canadian military culture. For many candidates it is the first time they have lived with members of a different sex, and for some it is also the first time they have been expected to treat women as their peers. In addition, the new residents had not always left their native hostilities behind, resulting in accusations of racism as well as infighting between cadets from different African countries.

Several European countries already incorporate foreigners into their militaries, but a growing number are exploring expanded roles for fairly recent immigrants amid recruitment shortfalls in the native populations. Across Europe, these moves are driven by recruitment crises, with analysts suggesting structured citizenship-for-service pathways for recent immigrants. The Canadian experience suggests the problems associated with such a recruitment policy should not be underestimated.