OTTAWA — Federal Auditor General Karen Hogan has released a report highlighting significant issues within the Canadian Armed Forces regarding housing conditions and recruitment efforts. The audit, published on Tuesday, reveals that many living quarters at three military bases are in "poor physical condition" and face overcrowding. The bases examined include Esquimalt in British Columbia, Gagetown in New Brunswick, and Trenton in Ontario.

The report indicates that aging housing facilities are often in serious disrepair, featuring deteriorating walls, inadequate drinking water, and malfunctioning sewage systems. According to Hogan, "The exercise found that 25 percent of quarters needed major repairs or did not meet the operational needs of National Defence or the needs of the Canadian Armed Forces members staying in them."

The Canadian Forces Housing Agency is struggling to provide enough residential units to meet the military's needs, particularly as the Armed Forces aims to recruit over 6,000 new members by April 2029. Currently, there are only 205 available housing units, while 3,706 applicants are on waiting lists.

Hogan's report also notes dissatisfaction among service members regarding a policy change that prioritizes new recruits for available housing. Many expressed concerns that this could negatively impact the retention of longer-serving members. The report states, "Given the number of new members that need to be added... there is a risk that longer-serving members will be at a lower priority for residential housing units."

In a separate analysis on recruitment, Hogan found that the military is not meeting its operational needs for new recruits. Over the past three years, only one out of every 13 Canadians who applied online to join the Armed Forces was successfully recruited. The audit revealed that from 2022 to 2025, the Canadian Armed Forces received 192,000 online applications, but 54 percent of applicants withdrew within two months.

The military has been working to recruit more permanent residents, but only 2 percent of those who applied were successfully recruited, compared to 10 percent of Canadian citizens. The recruitment process, which is supposed to take between 100 and 150 days, is currently taking twice as long, with a backlog in security screenings increasing from 20,000 to nearly 23,000 potential recruits.

While the Canadian Armed Forces exceeded its recruitment target by 210 individuals in the last fiscal year, the report warns that the military lacks the capacity to train all new recruits while also meeting its recruitment goals. This situation has led to the hiring of temporary instructors. The audit raises concerns about future training capabilities due to a shortage of training instructors, which is attributed to insufficient incentives and a demanding workload, along with ongoing equipment shortages.