Strong, Secure, Engaged: Canada’s Defence Policy

Overview

Canada’s defence policy – Strong, Secure, Engaged – will provide Canada with an agile, multi-purpose combat-ready military, operated by highly trained, well-equipped women and men, secure in the knowledge that they have the full support of their government and their fellow Canadians.

This policy will ensure Canada is:

• Strong at home, with a military ready and able to defend its sovereignty, and to assist in times of natural disaster, support search and rescue, or respond to other emergencies;
• Secure in North America, active in a renewed defence partnership in NORAD and with the United States; and
• Engaged in the world, with Defence doing its part in Canadian contributions to a more stable and peaceful world.
  

Strong, Secure, Engaged will shape Canada's role in the world for decades to come. It will ensure that the CAF is equipped and prepared to protect Canadian sovereignty, defend North America, and contribute to global security.

This approach will allow us to:

• Anticipate and understand threats to Canada and Canadian interests, enhancing our ability to identify, prevent and/or prepare for, and respond to a wide range of contingencies.
• Adapt to a fluid and highly volatile global security environment by keeping pace with the rapid evolution of technological advancements, improving our readiness, to responding to a crisis, defeating potential adversaries and maintaining the capability to work closely alongside allies.
• Act decisively with effective military capability through the execution of eight core missions, supported by a flexible, versatile, and agile force that can take informed, decisive action to accomplish the Government's objectives.