A leaked report circulating among Canada’s defense community reveals a rise in military recruits failing to pass basic training following changes aimed at increasing enrollment. The internal evaluation report, dated Jan. 27, indicates a decrease in the success rate to 77% in 2025 from 85% the previous year.
Confirmation of the report’s authenticity was provided by defense officials, specifically Lt.-Col. Marc Kieley, commandant of the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School (CFLRS) in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. The defense officials recently announced a surge in military recruitment, marking the highest level in three decades and a modest growth in the Armed Forces’ overall size after several years of decline.
Despite surpassing recruitment targets, the report by Kieley highlighted concerning issues such as an increase in mental health conditions among new recruits, particularly anxiety, and cultural challenges. The report pointed out a significant rise in the proportion of candidates needing multiple attempts to complete basic training, reaching 14.89% compared to 8.44% in 2024 and surpassing previous annual rates.
In recent years, the federal government has eased policies related to pre-existing medical conditions and discontinued aptitude tests to enhance military recruitment. Additionally, the Defense Department has expanded recruitment to include more foreign nationals and newly arrived permanent residents.
Kieley emphasized that the current basic training model assumes the effective training of approximately 85% of candidates, with most requiring one course and a minority needing two or three attempts. The increased failure rate has resulted in substantial challenges within the training school.
The report also highlighted concerns about the growing number of applicants presenting significant mental health issues, including anxiety, with some recruits requiring multiple hospital visits. Kieley recommended closer monitoring of candidates with pre-existing medical conditions.
Furthermore, changes allowing permanent residents to join the Forces led to a higher presence of newly arrived immigrants in training units. Units with recent immigrants had higher failure rates due to culture shock, with one unit graduating only 48% of the class. Permanent residents were identified as a challenging demographic to train, with instances of racism and internal conflicts within certain units.
In the officer training unit, some permanent residents struggled with adapting to Canadian military culture, particularly in their interactions with women. The evaluation report was initially reported by Juno News.
