From Defence to Community – Social Stability as a Pillar of National Security

Canada’s national strategy is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Great power competition, technological change, and hybrid tactics have reshaped the nature of modern conflict, blurring the boundaries between domestic stability and external security. States today face pressure not only to deter conventional military threats but also to address challenges that primarily affect civilian societies. Canada’s 2025 federal budget represents an attempt to strengthen national resilience by integrating investments in defence capacity, critical infrastructure, and domestic military industrial capability. Yet these measures unfold against a backdrop of worsening socioeconomic pressures at home, leaving the country exposed to domestic destabilization even as defence spending rises. The convergence of external threats and internal vulnerabilities reveals that national security can no longer be understood solely through the lens of military preparedness. National security today requires a hybrid-resilience approach, combining military readiness and social cohesion to address threats.

Strategic Context and Security Challenges

Canada’s 2025 federal budget outlines a strategic approach to increasing national resilience adept at dealing with hard-power concerns amidst the growing threat of great power conflict. By integrating investments in defence, domestic industrial capacity, and critical infrastructure, Canada is trying to become a more autonomous nation. Simultaneously, addressing Canadian domestic security necessities through investment and nation-building projects will help meet NATO spending requirements. With Canada joining the EU’s SAFE defence procurement initiative, unlocking billions of dollars in potential defence opportunities, Canadian defence firms gain access to European joint procurement and finance mechanisms.

As the United States (US), Canada’s traditional security guarantor, increasingly focuses on the Indo-Pacific and signals a reduced willingness to underwrite transatlantic stability, Canada is compelled to hedge its security dependencies. Yet contemporary risk environments are defined not only by hard-power challenges but also by hybrid threats, including cyber operations, disinformation, and foreign interference. Addressing these threats requires a multidimensional security posture that integrates physical, technological, and societal components. The budget’s allocation toward modernizing Canada’s armed forces, supporting domestic defence industries, and developing Arctic and northern infrastructure underscores a commitment to operational readiness and strategic autonomy. Investments in advanced technologies such as AI, quantum computing, and space systems further demonstrate recognition that modern security extends beyond traditional military capability, encompassing both technological resilience and the protection of critical industrial and information networks.

However, amidst a growing “guns and butter” dilemma, in which defence imperatives compete with mounting domestic socioeconomic pressures, Canadian security challenges are complex. Socioeconomic vulnerabilities, including youth unemployment, housing pressures, rising food prices, and gaps in healthcare services, interact with traditional and hybrid security threats, creating interdependent risks. 

CAF Readiness and Personnel Support

Critical to a hybrid-resilient approach is developing the strength and readiness of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Addressing hard-security concerns requires not only modern capabilities but also ensuring that CAF personnel are supported, retained, and operationally effective. Retention is a significant concern, with 9.4% of new members leaving service, highlighting the need for improved housing, competitive pay, and an enhanced quality of life on and off base. The recent 2025 CAF pay increases are a step in the right direction, but additional investments in housing, base infrastructure, and family support services are essential. Equally important are expanded mental-health services, which have been consistently advocated for by CAF members and their families who face the cumulative stresses of operations, repeated deployments, and long-term service.

At the same time, Canada’s defence procurement system continues to face well-documented challenges relating to personnel shortages and a multi-departmental model. While the Ministry of Public Services and Procurement invests in high-profile platforms such as fighter jets and submarines, essential equipment– including small arms, armoured vehicles, and training resources– receives insufficient attention from the federal government. The most recent audit by the Auditor General of Canada (2025) found that as of March 31, 2024, many training areas had less gear than needed, while others did not have enough equipment to carry out training operations.

More transparent and accountable procurement processes are needed to ensure that frontline personnel have reliable, effective tools to perform their duties safely and efficiently. Strengthening both personnel support and procurement effectiveness not only enhances operational readiness but also integrates material and human resource stability into a broader national resilience framework, complementing community-level and social initiatives to counter hybrid threats.

Socioeconomic Pressures and Domestic Security Concerns

Although the federal budget has not reduced funding for social welfare programs, the absence of meaningful increases and the limited attention to worsening social crises leave Canada vulnerable to further destabilisation, populism, and societal polarisation. For many young people facing limited opportunities, military service can appear to be one of the few viable pathways. A recent analysis by The Conversation highlights that Canada’s youth face some of the toughest labour-market conditions in decades, making enlistment in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) a possible remedy for the youth unemployment crisis. This pattern echoes the American model of military recruitment, which has long been criticised for disproportionately drawing in economically disadvantaged youth, effectively creating pathways into the armed forces driven less by choice and more by necessity. 

Such dynamics also raise serious domestic security concerns: far-right networks have, in documented cases, encouraged members to pursue military enlistment or sought contact with active or former service members as a means of acquiring training and tactical skills. Compounding this trend is the growth of online “incel-aligned” communities in Canada- particularly common among young men- which researchers increasingly identify as a potential gateway into broader extremist ideologies. Without sufficient attention to these online spaces, the risk posed by vulnerable youth becoming radicalised and incentivised to join the military becomes a serious concern for domestic security and the protection of liberal-democratic values.

Growing separatist movements, particularly in Quebec and Alberta, highlight regional discontent and political polarisation, which can interact with socioeconomic vulnerabilities and be exploited by both domestic and foreign actors seeking to exacerbate societal fractures. These dynamics intersect with broader socioeconomic pressures and are further amplified by hybrid threats and foreign interference, which serve to exploit domestic polarisation through strategies titled “wedge tactics.” 
Integrating social preparedness with defence and technological investments is central to a comprehensive hybrid-resilience model. International examples, such as Sweden’s psychological-security programs, demonstrate how initiatives that strengthen community-level resilience, media literacy, and civic trust can meaningfully complement traditional security capabilities. For Canada, public-awareness efforts like the Demand Better campaign, which brings together over fifty feminist organisations to advocate for equitable social policies, economic stability, and stronger public services, help address the socioeconomic stresses and political grievances that make communities vulnerable to polarisation and manipulation. 

Additionally, coordinated programs commissioned by the federal government, such as the Community Resilience Fund (CRF) and the Digital Citizen Initiative (DCI), linking defence, industrial strategy, and social resilience not only enhance the country’s ability to detect, withstand, and recover from hybrid threats but also reinforce national cohesion. In this sense, investing in social stability is not an adjunct to national security but a foundational component of it: strengthening communities, reducing socioeconomic vulnerabilities, and empowering citizens collectively contribute to a more unified, resilient society capable of withstanding increasingly complex threat environments.

Towards a Hybrid-Resilient Canada

Canada’s security landscape in the twenty-first century is defined by the convergence of traditional military threats, hybrid challenges, and domestic vulnerabilities. As this analysis demonstrates, a comprehensive approach to national resilience cannot rely solely on modernising the Canadian Armed Forces or expanding technological and industrial capabilities. Socioeconomic pressures, including youth unemployment, housing insecurity, and political polarisation, interact with hybrid threats, creating opportunities for extremist mobilisation, disinformation, and foreign interference. Social spending is not a competing priority in an era of heightened geopolitical tension; it is a core element of national defence.

By investing in social programs, community resilience initiatives, and public-awareness campaigns like Demand Better, Canada addresses these underlying vulnerabilities while simultaneously strengthening civic trust, cohesion, and adaptability. When combined with targeted defence investments and technological modernisation, such measures create a multidimensional, hybrid-resilient framework capable of withstanding both internal and external pressures. Social spending and citizen support are not peripheral to national security; they are at the very heart of it. A Canada that invests in the well-being of its people is not only more equitable and inclusive but also more unified, adaptable, and resilient in the face of modern conflict.