Canada vs. United States
Military
| Canada | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Military branches | Canadian Forces: Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, Canadian Joint Operations Command, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command; Primary Reserve (army, air, naval reserves); Coast Guard (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) (2021) note: the Army reserves include the Canadian Rangers, which provides a limited presence in Canada's northern, coastal, and isolated areas for sovereignty, public safety, and surveillance roles | United States Armed Forces: US Army, US Navy (includes Marine Corps), US Air Force, US Space Force; US Coast Guard (administered in peacetime by the Department of Homeland Security, but in wartime reports to the Department of the Navy); National Guard (Army National Guard and Air National Guard) (2021) note: the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard are reserve components of their services and operate in part under state authority |
| Military service age and obligation | 17 years of age for voluntary male and female military service (with parental consent); 16 years of age for Reserve and Military College applicants; Canadian citizenship or permanent residence status required; maximum 34 years of age; service obligation 3-9 years (2021) | 18 years of age (17 years of age with parental consent) for male and female voluntary service; no conscription; maximum enlistment age 34 (Army), 39 (Air Force), 39 (Navy), 28 (Marines), 31 (Coast Guard); 8-year service obligation, including 2-5 years active duty (Army), 2 years active (Navy), 4 years active (Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard); all military occupations and positions open to women (2020) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.42% of GDP (2020 est.) 1.29% of GDP (2019) 1.31% of GDP (2018) 1.44% of GDP (2017) 1.16% of GDP (2016) | 3.73% of GDP (2020 est.) 3.51% of GDP (2019) 3.27% of GDP (2018) 3.3% of GDP (2017) 3.51% of GDP (2016) |
| Military - note | Canada is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty) in 1949 | the US is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty) in 1949 |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | the Canadian Armed Forces have approximately 66,000 total active personnel (23,000 Army; 8,000 Navy; 12,000 Air Force; 23,000 other uniformed personnel) (2020) | the US Armed Forces have approximately 1.39 million active duty personnel (482,000 Army; 347,000 Navy; 336,000 Air Force; 181,000 Marine Corps; 41,000 Coast Guard; 16,000 Space Force); 336,000 Army National Guard; 106,000 Air National Guard (April 2021) |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the CAF's inventory is a mix of domestically-produced equipment and imported weapons systems from Australia, Europe, Israel, and the US; since 2010, the leading supplier by far is the US; Canada's defense industry develops, maintains, and produces a range of equipment, including aircraft, combat vehicles, naval vessels, and associated components (2020) | the US military's inventory is comprised almost entirely of domestically-produced weapons systems (some assembled with foreign components) along with a smaller mix of imported equipment from a variety of Western countries; since 2010, Germany and the UK are the leading suppliers of military hardware; the US defense industry is capable of designing, developing, maintaining, and producing the full spectrum of weapons systems; the US is the world's leading arms exporter (2020) |
| Military deployments | 540 Latvia (NATO); up to 200 Ukraine; up to 850 Middle East (multiple missions, including support to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and NATO assistance mission Iraq) (2021) | 5,000 Africa (mostly in Djibouti, with approximately 700-1,000 in other countries of East Africa and about 700 in West Africa); 1,000 Australia; 1,150 Belgium; 150 Bulgaria; 250 Diego Garcia; 150 Canada; 750 Cuba; 270 Egypt (MFO); 34,000 Germany; 400 Greece; 150 Greenland; 6,000 Guam; 380 Honduras; 12,000 Italy; 54,000 Japan; 630 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR); approximately 10-15,000 assigned with an additional estimated 20-30,000 deployed in the Middle East (Bahrain/Iraq/Israel/Jordan/Kuwait/Oman/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Syria/United Arab Emirates); 400 Netherlands; 700 Norway; 200 Philippines; 4,500 Poland; 250 Portugal; 26,500 Republic of Korea; 1,100 Romania; 200 Singapore; 3,200 Spain; 100 Thailand; 1,700 Turkey; 9,300 United Kingdom (2021) US military rotational policies affect deployed numbers; for example, the US deploys ground and air units to select countries for 6-12 month rotational assignments on a continuous basis; in South Korea, for example, the US continuously rotates combat brigades (3,000-4,000 personnel) for 9 months at a time; contingencies also affect US troop deployments; for example, in 2019, the US deployed more than 15,000 additional military personnel to the Middle East for an extended period of time; in addition, some overseas US naval bases, such as the headquarters of US Naval Forces Central Command (USNAVCENT) in Manama, Bahrain, are frequented by the crews of US ships on 6-9 month deployments; a US carrier strike group with an air wing and supporting ships typically includes over 6-7,000 personnel |
Source: CIA Factbook
