Canada and other NATO allies asked by US to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP

Original Publish Date » April 3 , 2025
Last Updated » 2 weeks

Steven Chase / Globe and Mail » Canada and other NATO allies were met by a request from the Trump administration to massively hike defence spending at the military pact’s meeting of foreign affairs ministers Thursday in Brussels.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, who attended the meeting, declined to say whether she thought Canada could increase military expenditures to reach 5% of gross domestic product, as Rubio requested. “I’m not into speculation,” she said in an interview.

Canada currently spends about 1.37% of its annual economic output on defence, and has pledged to reach 2% by 2030. No NATO ally has so far committed to increasing 5%, although Rubio said Thursday the US plans to do so.